The Long Flight Home
by BnBfanatic
Summary: Takes place during and after the Semper Fi and Aliyah episodes. Tony centric w/ major whumpage as are all of my stories. Excitement and danger will ensue! Pls R
1. Initial Damage

_This story takes place in the time frame of "Semper Fi" & "Aliyah" episodes- at first and just in the first couple of chapters it will alternate between the thoughts of Gibbs, Tony's and Vance. Each time the scene changes from one person to the other, it will be notated by their Initial: G ~ Gibbs T ~Tony and V ~ Vance._

_This fic will bring out more about injuriesTony rec'd during the fight but that he didn't tell anyone about - downsizing the other injuries to Gibbs in the Hospital hallway, by reducing the real damage down to - ". . . fractured radius and a couple o' bruises . . ." I decided to write this after seeing Aliyah again last night._

_There will also be some danger coming in upcoming chapters that were not part of the original episodes but that I thought, should have been. **I hope you like, pls review. :-)**_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Ducky's Autopsy Room Two Days Prior To The Trip To Israel . . .**_

As Gibbs and Ducky stood side by side in front of the wall mounted light box that held all of Tony's X-rays. They had just arrived via courier from the Hospital – they were films that had to be taken, to see how badly the Agent had been injured during the explosive Rivkin fight, also to be held as evidence to back up Tony's self defense description of the shooting that took place and ended the fight – along with Michael Rivkin's life.

Unbeknownst to Tony, Gibbs had arrived at the hospital in record time, roughly fifteen minutes after Tony had called him from the ambulance. After finding out that Tony was still inside one of the exam rooms, Gibbs had flashed his badge at a young Nurse, informing her that he was running an investigation. He told her to inform the Doctor who was currently examining Tony DiNozzo, that as part of the investigation - full Xrays were to be taken of every suspected injury - regardless of what the patient might be telling them. He knew that Tony's natural tendancy would be to act fine as best he could, and then refuse any X-rays that he felt were unnecessary. Gibbs smiled to himself, knowing that he had just taken the necessary measures to make sure that didn't happen.

_*****Flashback to the high voltage confrontation*****_

_After Tony had been screamed at by his partner, to - "CALL AN AMBULANCE! NOW!" he had done just that! The police arrived along with one ambulance. ONce the lead Officer had evaluated the scene and noted two injured men - one far worse off than the other - a second ambulance had been called in just in case. Once the first ambulance had sped away from Ziva's place rushing Rivkin to the Hospital, of course allowing Ziva to go with them, Tony was left and himself being examined by the newly arrived set of paramedics._

_While they were checking him over, Tony was briefly questioned by the LEO's that were also on scene - while the two paramedics continued to focus on the job at hand. They noted that Tony's vitals were all over the place - his blood pressure dangerously high - his heart still racing much faster than it should be, his pupils were informing them that the man was obviously still in shock over the way the evening had played out - and had obviously gone South in the process._

_~'Domestic violence is probably what they think happened here tonight.' ~ Tony thought as he absentmindedly watched the medics work. ~'They probably think this was just a Lover's Triangle gone bad - bad enough to come to a fatal end. If only they knew what was really going on.' ~ he thought._

_Then he realized that he needed to inform the Officer taking his statement, that NCIS needed to be called in immediately. They would have jurisdiction on this one and he decided that would call Gibbs in a minute, he wasn't quite ready to talk to him just yet. He was not only worried about informing his boss about what had just gone down, he also felt he would be unable to form a clear sentence until his adrenaline had gone back down to somewhere near a semi-normal level. ~ 'Yeah, I'll call him in a minute."_

_He felt a blanket being wrapped around him as he remained seated on Ziva's couch, he knew from experience that it was an effort to keep him from falling further into shock. Then he suddenly caught one paramedic by the wrist, when he noticed an IV needle coming towards him. "What the hell are you doing with that?" he demanded. "Sorry sir," the nervous medic answered, "It's normal procedure for anyone showing signs of shock - which by the way, you are." _

_"Yeah? Well I don't need it, I'm fine." Tony argued, "In fact, I can drive myself to the Hospital to get an X-ray of my arm - I don't need an escort."_

_"Yes well, I'm sorry Sir but we cannot allow someone who clearly has a useless hand and arm, to drive. Besides being against our rules, I'm sure that Police officer over there would have a field day if we let you do that. Also Sir, when someone is in shock and full of adrenaline from an incident like you were just involved in, their injuries and pain are sometimes masked by that adrenaline and they don't always know just how bad off they are - until the shock wears off. I have seen it happen numerous times in fact one man involved in a fight that looked to be as bad as this one - ended up having a small bleed internally - that wasn't detected for two days! So you are just going to have to tough it out I'm afraid, because you **are** going to the Hospital - **in** the ambulance. We won't use the lights and siren if that helps." the young man joked, trying to lighten the mood. _

_"Oh, yeah that's great." Tony replied sarcastically. "Oh, and stop calling me Sir! The name's Tony." he added._

_Then he just sat there - staring at the spot where Rivkin's bloody body had fallen and noticing the bloody shard of glass that he had planned to murder Tony with, laying on the blood soaked carpet. Before he knew it they had already inserted the IV needle, mobilized his arm for transport, checked his vitals, ribs and neck from where he had clearly been nearly strangled, and then finally helped him rise from the couch and assisted him in walking to the awaiting ambulance_.

*****_End Of Flashback***_**

**_Back In Ducky's Autopsy Room . . ._**

The X-rays Ducky had on display for Gibbs, were of Tony's neck from where he was nearly strangled by the Israeli killer, X-rays of his left radius – clearly showing a bad fracture, and X-rays of his chest and abdomen showing ribs that had also been fractured during the altercation. Ducky knew Gibbs had been impatiently waiting for the arrival of the films and subsequent medical report – but more importantly he was waiting to hear his trusted ME's opinion of the information in relation to Tony's 2 page report/statement.

Ducky jumped right into it. "Tony's left radius was fractured during this . . brawl. But both he, and Officer Rivkin suffered a whole assortment of other injuries – all of them consistent with Tony's version of the story." Dr. Mallard reassured his worried friend. "Tony told the truth." he added.

Gibbs took the medial report from the ME's hands, studying it closely in silence. He had never doubted Tony's reporting of the incident, he knew his Senior Agent would never lie to him about something of this nature, something so serious. From the moment in the hall way of the Medical Center, when his Senior Agent first said it was self defense - that was all Gibbs needed to hear and he believed him. Tony had looked him dead in the eye, almost over emphasizing the gesture just to make sure his boss knew - that there was not an ounce of fraud or uncertainty in his words.

_**Two Days Later – At A Private Airstrip In Israel . . .**_

Tony sat silently in the massive cargo plane he had just boarded, heading back to DC along with his boss and Director Vance, but now minus one beautiful, female team member.

After seeing his boss flashing a thumbs up to one of the flight team, signaling them that they were clear to take off - Tony allowed his head to fall back against the wall behind him the moment Gibbs had confirmed that they were leaving Ziva behind – and he just kept it there, eyes closed. He felt awful all of a sudden, though he wasn't quite sure whether it was from the stress of knowing he may never see his beloved Ninja again – knowing that they parted as enemies - or if it was his physical injuries that were to blame.

His mind started to wander, thinking back to recent events of this daunting trip as he brought his hand up, subconsciously unaware that he had begun rubbing at the sore neck and collarbone that had been aggravated and inflamed from when Mr. Eee-li David had purposely crushed the area with one of his strong, assassin trained hands as he tried to 'intimidate' the American Agent in front of him – not so subtly punishing Tony for his continued sarcasm, and for killing one of his men.

G ~

Gibbs had let his own head fall back as well, his eyes appeared to be closed at first glance. But this wasn't the case, he only wanted the Director to think he was sleeping - so as not to be forced into awkward conversation. Personally he had been disgusted at the, so called 'diplomatic' relationship that Vance seemed to have with Director David – Gibbs sat in silence, still wondering just who's side the man was on. Was he rooting for Tony to be cleared of all wrong doing, or silently hoping the smart ass Agent would be punished or even killed by one of Eli's trained Assassins? Eli David was not the type of man to just sit back and take the violent loss of one of his men, and then do nothing about it.

Gibbs decided he had better alert his Senior Agent as soon as they got back, to watch his back for a while, keep better tabs on his surroundings both while at work, and at home. Hell, he might even need to take more drastic measures to keep his man safe – the last thing Tony needed now, was to find himself being stalked by a hit man!

The mere thought of the Mossad Director sending another of his killers to DC on yet another deadly mission, caused the silver haired team leader to shudder. The thought caused him to stealthily glance over to check on his own defeated looking injured man through the bottom of his semi-closed lids. From the angle the Director was seated, it would look as though Jethro's eyes were all the way closed, but with the angle of which Gibbs head was positioned, he was easily able to observe Tony without either he, or Director Vance, even knowing.

Jethro took in Tony's peaked appearance, the sweat forming on his upper lip, his flushed cheeks that were made that much brighter, surrounded by the contrast of blanched pale skin. Gibbs badly wished he could take the anguish away from the man whom had become somewhat of a surrogate Son to him.

T

Meanwhile Tony had settled in for the uncomfortably long flight ahead of them and in doing so he could no longer ignore the increasing pain that was prominent in his back and ribcage from hitting the ground with what felt like the force of a brick thrown from a roof top. His feet having still been in the air when he landed, one arm already rendered useless by the barricade of a sling - leaving him with nothing whatsoever to help break his fall. He heard the familiar sound of a rib snapping as one – or quite possibly two, of the ribs that had previously only been cracked - broke the rest of the way through.

His ribs were throbbing and the pain was bad enough to cause a light sheen of sweat to break out on his upper lip. He felt nauseas but there was no way he was puking in front of his superiors. Vance already hated him and thought he was a poor excuse for an Agent. So seeing him throwing up all over himself would probably _amuse_ the toothpick chewing man.

So he found himself deciding to turn his focus on breathing deeply – in through his nose, and out through his mouth. Something that he learned to do when he had been shot for the first time, as a cop in Baltimore. He found it really helped him control not only the nausea, but the mind blowing pain as well. There was also no way he was going to take any of the prescribed pain medication he had been given at the Hospital, the last thing he needed right now, was for Vance to see how utterly goofy he became when medicated!

G ~

Gibbs never missed a thing – sometimes even when he wasn't even in the same room it seemed, though so far no one on the team had ever figured out just _how _he was able to do that. He continued his obsessed observation of his agen- . . . his Son, finding himself resorting to deep breathing exercises of his own – not to control any sickness, but more so in his case it was pure, unadulterated anger that was threatening to envelope him.

Anger at Director Vance for forcing them to come here in the first place. Anger over the recent and questionable activities of one Ms. Ziva David, whom he had trusted completely just as he did the rest of his team – and anger over the toll that all of this was taking on his most senior, loyal and caring Agent, Tony DiNozzo, whom had been doing exactly what Gibbs would have done had Ziva been _his_ partner. He would have to tell Tony that as well when they landed, he needed something to hang onto, some kind of confirmation that he did the right thing, regardless of the resulting nightmare.

**_To Be Continued . . ._**

_I will start from Vance's point of view in the next chapter. One they all get home though, things are not going to start getting back to normal at all – things will go from bad to worse. __Thanks for reading._

**_BnB_**


	2. Unravelling

**_Final scene from the previous Ficisode:_**

_He continued his obsessed observation of his ag- . . . his Son, finding himself resorting to deep breathing exercises of his own – not to control any sickness, but more so in his case it was pure unadulterated anger that was threatening to envelope him._

_Anger at Director Vance for forcing them to come here in the first place. Anger over the recent and questionable activities of one Ms. Ziva David, whom he had trusted completely just as he did the rest of his team – and anger over the toll that all of this was taking on his most senior, loyal and caring Agent, Tony DiNozzo, whom had been doing exactly what Gibbs would have done had Ziva been his partner. He would have to tell Tony that as well when they landed, he needed something to hang onto, some kind of confirmation that he did the right thing, regardless of the resulting nightmare._

**_~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~_NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS**

**The Long Flight Home**

**Chapter II**

_**~ V**_

Director Leon Vance, belted in and watching as his Lead investigating Agent Jethro Gibbs as he boarded the large cargo plane . . . alone. Vance decided it would be best right now if he just let the obvious termination of Liaison Officer, Ziva David, remain unmentioned. He opened a fresh plastic wrapped toothpick and placed it into his mouth, a habit he had picked up when he had first quit smoking cold turkey some years back, something he found soothing to his nerves especially in uncomfortable situations such as this one.

Was Gibbs just leaving Ms. David here for a temporary leave of absence? Or was it something permanent? He made the wise choice after receiving one of Gibb's infamous glares, to wait until a more appropriate moment to confront him about the decision. Vance had finally come to trust Gibbs and was no longer questioning, second guessing or sidestepping every move the man made.

Then out of the corner of his eye he caught the movement of Senior Agent Anthony DiNozzo as his head fell back against the wall behind him, in obvious distress over Ziva's absence. If he could have read the tired looking Agent's mind he would have known that at this point, Tony wasn't sure who's decision it was to leave the Mossad Officer behind. For all Tony knew it could very well have been Ziva's decision to stay behind - her hatred for her former partner for killing her Israeli boyfriend - too overwhelming to ignore.

Vance felt there was something more going on between Tony and Ziva though he couldn't determine exactly what that was. They definitely seemed closer than most partners and there definitely seemed to be an elephant in the room almost anytime they were together – the elephant appearing in the form of unresolved sexual tension.

But, he had to admit that the way the man had handled himself with Director David while being raked over the coals about the shooting – was rather ingenious. The sly Mossad Director had attempted to pressure DiNozzo into a confessing that he had actually shot Officer Rivkin _on purpose _– acting out on nothing more than sheer jealousy. Vance remembered back to when he and Gibbs were initially watching their senior agent's reactions and sarcastic replies to Director David's slightly unconventional line of '_questioning_' and what at first appeared to Vance to just be more of Tony's usual juvenile antics and snide jabs – later proved to be a clever guise meant to purposely unravel Ziva's rather unshakable Father.

In just a matter of minutes Tony had impressed them all as he turned the tables in just a matter of minutes and by the time he was done, it was the Director _himself_ who accidentally made some pretty shocking confessions of his own!

After that moment, Vance felt a new level of respect quickly developing for the seemingly immature and incompetent Agent. Shocked after seeing DiNozzo looked up with a rising of his eyebrow to glance directly into the camera - to make sure that his Superiors, whom he knew were watching in the other room, had caught the reverse confession. It had finally dawned on him while watching the Mossad Director unknowingly cave in after falling right into Tony's clever trap. Vance was never more impressed by an agent than he was at the way Tony had managed to use his own ingenious methods to get the Director riled up in such a manner, that Eli had quickly lost control of his anger, and his tongue!

Forcing his mind back to the present moment, the normally detached NCIS Director glanced back in the direction of the Senior Agent – again taking in the pale skin tone, sweating features and occasional slight grimaces of pain that were contorting his pretty boy features - and even though he had seen the man's report, along with the medical records from his visit to the emergency room, he couldn't help but wonder if there was something more bothering the man, aside from his obvious shock over the unexpected absence of his long time partner Ziva - something that was _physically_ wrong more so than emotionally.

**_~ T_**

Even with his eyes closed and his head still leaning back against the wall – Tony could almost sense someone looking at him. He did not know however, if the stare was coming from his boss or Director Vance. What he **did** know – was that he just wanted this flight to be over and to be able to just go home and be alone! He knew he had been pushing himself for weeks, observing, following and second guessing his partner as his gut was telling him something was amiss. He may not have the infamous Gibbs' gut, but there were times when his own intuition was right on the money, and unfortunately for him, this had been one of those times.

His gut had been right, Ziva had been played by that slime Rivkin! Tony felt his face getting hotter but this time it wasn't from pain, it was purely from the anger that rose within him whenever he thought of what Rivkin had done to not only his partner, but to their partnership!

His mind started going places he would have rather not go, thinking of the Mossad killer putting his hands on Ziva – his lips on hers. He finally had to force his mind to think of something else, he could not stand to think about the fact that the two Israeli's had most likely slept together as well - thinking about that possibility only threatened to push his current level of nausea and fragile state of mind - further over the edge.

He had become so involved with his thoughts that he hadn't even realized that his hands were balled up in fists in his lap, oblivious to the increased pain this was causing his injured arm. His lips were pursed together in fury and the deepening lines on his brow only managed to betray and confirm his anger – something that again, did not go undetected from Gibbs!

**_~ G_**

Gibbs noticed that Director Vance was either sleeping now, or simply pretending to be in order to avoid conversation – either of which made Gibbs happy. He then turned his eyes back towards Tony to continue his silent vigil in making sure the man was indeed okay both from a physical standpoint, and an emotional one.

Seeing the man's face go from pekid white, to fire red in just a matter of seconds, Gibbs then looked Tony over from head to toe, immediately spotting the clenched fists. That among other physical signs only confirmed that the man was struggling to contain himself from either lashing out verbally - or punching something.

Jethro knew that he had better help his Agent get control of his obvious outrage from what had transpired over the past few days/hours before it got too out of hand. Now was not the time or the place for Tony to let out steam as Gibbs knew Tony would choose to die a slow and painful death – rather than lose it in front of his hated Director.

Gibbs had been extremely proud of Tony's performance and the unrelenting composure he held throughout this entire mess. He had especially been impressed when Tony had so cleverly tricked Director David into confessing that it was his own orders that had been responsible for bringing Rivkin to DC, to Ziva. Gibbs had the utmost faith in Tony, knowing that he would come through in his usual style which he had to admit - typically involved pissing someone off - but he had not expected him to do it so quickly into his interrogation, or so perfectly!

"Tony." Gibbs whispered quietly but firmly, hoping to garner Tony's attention and no one else's. "Hey – **DiNozzo**!" he said slightly louder.

Tony's entire body jerked slightly as his boss interrupted his serious train of thought, the abrupt movement jarring his injuries enough to cause a grunt of pain to escape from his lips. Tony immediately looked in the direction that the sound of his name had come from, completely unaware that he had just given away more evidence that he was hurting physically. He said nothing, as he merely stared at his boss while trying to regain his composure and clear his head.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked him, speaking in an even more hushed voice than before. The last thing he needed was Vance knowing he had a soft side. Upon receiving nothing but a stare from Tony he tried again. "Tony listen, it's obvious that you are angry - you have every right to be. But you just need to find a way to keep your mind **off** of this until we land in DC - you think you can do that?"

Finally finding his voice Tony responded flatly, "Yeah boss, I'll do my best."

"Good – now how's your arm? You need any pain pills?" Gibbs knew Tony had probably not taken any since the emergency room forced him to.

"Nah boss, I'm good"

"Yeah? Well, your face and that grunt of pain you just let out a few minutes ago – say otherwise."

"Wha-? Uh, yeah well I – uh . . . I was just caught off guard . . . I just - moved wrong." he stuttered.

"Uh-huh. Well, I'm still keeping an eye on you so don't think that I won't force some pills down your throat if I sense that you are lying to me about the pain." Gibbs threatened. "Now try to get some sleep and then I want you checked out by Ducky the minute we get back."

Tony was too tired and felt too awful to even argue with his boss about the dreaded visit to the ME. He would fight that battle later he thought as he finally relaxed back into the seat and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

Gibbs kept watch as the weary Agent immediately fell into a deep sleep – exhaustion finally catching up to the man. But his main concern was Tony's unnerving lack of his usual non-stop rambling – that was one sure sign that something wasn't right. But for him **not** to argue with Gibbs over being forced to go see Ducky, well that was a dead give away that the man was either extremely despondent, or very ill.

**_To Be Continued . . ._**

_I hope you liked this update! I do plan to kick it up several notches in the next chapter – so get ready! _

**BnB**


	3. Dr Gibbs

**Final scene from the last ficisode . . .**

Tony was too tired and felt too awful to even argue with him about the dreaded visit to the ME. He would fight that battle later he thought as he finally relaxed back into the seat and was asleep in seconds.

Gibbs kept watch as the weary Agent immediately fell into a deep sleep – exhaustion finally catching up to the man. But his main concern was Tony's lack of non-stop rambling – that was one sign that something wasn't right. But for him _**not**_ to argue with Gibbs over being forced to go see Ducky, well that was a dead give away that the man was either extremely despondent, or very ill.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter III**_

_**Three hours into the 9 hour flight. . . .**_

Gibbs had finally fallen asleep himself once he had been convinced that Tony was down for the count at least for a while. He knew his own fine tuned instincts were honed enough to awaken him if any major movement was noted coming from Tony's direction.

He had only been sleeping for approximately 1.5 hours before he woke up. He felt almost as alert and refreshed as if he had just enjoyed a full 8 hour night's sleep. After first immediately checking out Tony's situation and finding him still completely out and seemingly frozen in the exact same position as if it were only a look-a-like wax model of him in a museum somewhere. He was obviously more sleep deprived and weary than he had led them all to believe – as usual. Something that was not at all surprising to Gibbs since he knew his Senior Agent would always be that way, finding enough hidden energy to appear better off than he actually was, at least whenever his peers were anywhere near.

Gibbs couldn't help the grin that took up residence on his face at the thought, he then turned his head to see if Vance was awake – only to find his chair completely empty. The sight of the now vacant chair did nothing to alarm the Lead Agent as he knew Vance had not suddenly decided to take up sky diving as a hobby. Leaning forward in his seat and looking to his right, he spotted the toothpick chewing Director up toward the front of the long military cargo plane speaking to the Pilots. Gibbs took advantage of the freedom and extra space, unbuckling his jump seat harness to stand up and stretch his aching back and legs. As he was just about to sit down again he saw Tony, who was seated across from him and slightly to the right, stirring and groaning simultaneously. Gibbs looked at his Agent a little closer and immediately noticed that there was just something about the injured man's skin tone that was off somehow, almost taking on a somewhat gray appearance with beads of sweat still lingering on his forehead and upper lip.

All of sudden Tony visibly flinched causing his body to jerk forward slightly, but more aggressively than before. As Gibbs watching him more closely he could see Tony's eyes were moving rapidly underneath his closed lids, a sure sign of an active dream, or nightmare taking place. What Gibbs had _not_ been expecting was the sudden lurch of movement that startled him more than he cared to admit as Tony jumped in obvious fear of something - or someone.

A sharp, brief holler of pain immediately followed the movement as the frantic man jarred his injured arm and ribcage badly enough to elicit a yell. Gibbs shuddered at the wide eyed look of panic in Tony's eyes as he fought to wake up fully from the state of deep REM sleep he had just been in, it took him a moment to pull his thoughts together enough to remember where he was and what was happening around him. The first thing his eyes finally focused in on when he had finally retained some coherent thought, was his worried boss staring down at him, concern etched all over his chiseled face.

"Oh uh, hey boss." Tony tried to sound much more nonchalant than he actually felt at the moment. "Uh, what are you doing? Oh my God I wasn't talking in my sleep was I?!" Tony asked, totally oblivious to the nightmare he had just awoken from, a nightmare that had been real enough to jar him like it had. Then as his adrenaline levels decreased to a semi-normal level, his mind finally registered the increasing pain he was now feeling from not only the day's events which had included being roughly thrown to the concrete ground by his partner, along with the act of being jarred awake by a nightmare he had yet to remember, and further aggravated by the stiffness of sitting in the same position for 3 hours in deep, exhausted slumber.

Gibbs barely contained the smirk of amusement that caused a small grin to break out on his face. "No Tony, don't worry your secrets are all safe, you didn't talk in your sleep."

Tony shifted cautiously and slowly taking every effort to avoid moving his ribcage as he possibly could. "Oh good, that's all I need is to yell out some girl's name or something worse with Director Vance right next to m – wai- where'd he go? You didn't push him out did ya Gibbs?" Tony said, relishing in the fact that Gibbs trusted their secretive Director even less than Tony did. Tony also knew Gibbs was pissed that Vance had forced them all to come to Israel just to pacify his own mysterious alliance with the Director of Mossad. It seemed that there was much more to their affiliation than just a professional or political coalition.

Gibbs acknowledged Tony's question by flashing his usual half grin in amusement of his Senior Agent's humorous sarcasm. He then just pointed towards the cockpit of the plane where Tony could see that the Director was busy talking into one of the Pilot's radios, talking to heaven knows who.

Gibbs walked over to an area of the cargo plane that held a container of bottled water and other light food items since the flight was such a long one. Grabbing two, he tossed one toward Tony as he sauntered back to his own seat – feeling refreshed from stretching his legs for just that short time. Tony had been deep in thought again as the water bottle came flying at him. Without even thinking, he quickly brought up not only his one good hand, but the hand that was connected to his broken arm as he tried to catch the flying object. The sudden and jerking movement that this created, caused his already painful ribs to send a deeper, stabbing pain that seemed to travel all the way through his torso from front to back. The muscles in his stomach and back then contracted in an effort to protect the damaged ribs but only added to his agony. He immediately dropped what little hold he still had on the bottle of water, letting it fall to the floor as both of his hands regardless of the sling, went to hold onto his ribcage tightly as to help support the now throbbing area.

Gibbs watched as Tony's face lost what little color it had left and for a moment he looked as though he might be sick. Gibbs' felt his own stab of pain but in his heart as guilt over his very intentional act of purposely throwing the object at Tony. It had been the only way he could think of to get to the bottom of his agent's obviously stilted movements and painful grimaces. He knew throwing the water bottle to a man with one arm in a sling, was cruel to say the least – but he also knew it would be the only way he could catch the suffering that Tony was hiding from him and get him to finally come clean and admit that there was something more going on with the injuries he had sustained during the fight he had with Rivkin.

"Mmmpphh!" came the stifled sound of pain that escaped from Tony's pursed lips and clenched teeth. He was now breathing in deeply through his nose in an effort to get the pain under control, the muscles in his jaw contracting as his teeth remained clenched together. The fallen water bottle slash plastic missile, now rolling quietly across the floor of the plane.

Gibbs moved quickly to Tony's side, placing his hand on the man's good shoulder, squeezing it only enough to let Tony know he was concerned and not mad. "Tony, are you okay? You gonna be sick?"

Tony merely shook his head in response, still breathing deeply through his nose and clutching his left side, not feeling in control of the pain enough to speak yet.

Gibbs continued his interrogation, determined to get some answers before the Director had finished whatever mysterious phone call he was on. "Okay good, now you gonna fess up to what is causing you this kind of pain now? Or am I going to have to check out your injuries myself? Before you answer, trust me when I say that you do not want me playing Doctor because I assure you, I won't be as gentle as Ducky." He stood planted in his spot, no intention of moving.

Tony saw that he had no means of escape from his bosses' harsh glare or the physical barrier he had created by standing in front of Tony's seat. But even if he could have stood up from his jumper seat, he was in a plane for crying out loud – where the hell was he gonna go - even if he _did _get up?! All these thoughts were racing through Tony's mind as he tried to think of a way to downplay his outburst and his body's own betrayal of the increasing pain he had been feeling. "Okay, okay hold on. There's no need to threaten me boss, I obviously have no choice but to come clean." Tony figured that if he just admitted to his rib pain being worse, he could conveniently skip over the fact that the left side of his abdomen, deep inside, felt warm, swollen and extremely tender to the touch.

"It's just my ribs, I guess a couple of them were bruised in the uh . . . the altercation . . . I think it happened when I threw Rivkin back to get his hands off of my throat before I blacked out completely, we landed on that glass table." Tony paused just enough to get his breath back, the energy of talking while in so much pain had made it so even a couple of sentences took his breath away even more.

He continued after taking a couple of deep breaths, Gibbs hand remained on his shoulder as if to help support him and keep him from doing a face plant. "He had also gotten in some pretty good punches to my side." He stopped talking and waited to see if that had been enough of a confession to get his boss from pushing for more.

"Tony, I have had plenty of bruised ribs in the past, and fractured, broken, chipped and even compound fractures of my ribs – and so trust me when I say, I know enough to know that _'bruised'_ ribs don't elicit that kind of pain. So I guess you leave me no choice but to examine your ribs myself – " he said, knowing that would get Tony to elaborate on his previous downplay. He reached down and started to push aside Tony's suit jacket just to add more ammunition to his threat.

"Hey okay-okay! Stop!" Tony said as he pushed his bosses' hands away before he got a glimpse of the colorful black and blue artwork across Tony's abdomen. "Ziva took out her anger towards me earlier today. She kicked my feet out from under me and I went down – hard – on my back. I think it just aggravated my arm and my ribs, enough to cause a . . . flare up." He explained a he pulled his suit jacket closed again, covering his torso from Gibbs prying hands and eyes.

"Yeah, I saw you two talking outside the Mossad headquarters, but you were still standing when I saw you." Gibbs confessed. "Tony hairline fractures of the ribs don't always show up on the initial X-rays, if you had any hairline fractures then that abrupt landing on the cement landing today could have been all it took to break them completely. That is not something to mess around with!" Gibbs warned. Just then the Director started making his way back through the long plane, to where his Lead and Senior Agents were talking, he noted how Gibb's was holding onto Agent DiNozzo's shoulder wondering what they were discussing so seriously. He glanced at Tony's face and immediately spotted the gray palor and increased beads of sweat that were forming on his upper lip and forehead.

"What are you two conspiring about now?" Vance inquired, trying to be humorous to lighten the mood to a very stressful day to say the least.

Gibbs immediately straightened, letting his hand drop back to his side. He walked right back to his seat and after sitting down he replaced the straps that acted as a seat belt for the jump seats. "Why would you think that Lee-on? You getting paranoid on me now?" he said, shooting back with his own light hearted remark. Tony had also straightened up in his seat, as much as he could with this ribcage in the state it was in.

"Touche' Jethro, touche'" Leon replied.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**Sorry to end in such an odd place but the next chapter will have Tony's swelling spleen getting worse and to the point where he cannot hide it from his supervisors any longer no matter how hard he tried! Please keep up with the awesome number of reviews as I appreciate ALL of them!!!**_


	4. Increasing Danger

**A/N - Quick note – some of the things I write in regard to Tony's injuries and symptoms etc, are based on facts and research – however some – are NOT. But they are close enough to be believable. So just go with it :-)**

**THANK YOU ALL FOR THE AMAZING REVIEWS!! I have to say that they are the reason that I typed non-stop to get you another chapter up as soon as I possibly could. I am as addicted to this story though as all of you are so that is also helping me write faster.**

**  
**_**Final Scene from the last ficisode:**_

"What are you two conspiring about now?" Vance inquired, trying to be humorous to lighten the mood to a very stressful day to say the least.

Gibbs immediately straightened, letting his hand drop back to his side. He walked right back to his seat and after sitting down he replaced the straps that acted as a seat belt for the jump seats. "Why would you think that Lee-on? You getting' paranoid on me now?" he said, shooting back with his own light hearted remark. Tony had also straightened up in his seat, as much as he could with this ribcage in the state it was in.

"Touche' Jethro, touche'" Leon replied.

_~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter IV**_

_**5.5 hours into the 9 hour flight. . . .**_

It had been about 45 minutes since Vance had returned from the cockpit, all three NCIS men were in their respective jump seats quietly letting the time pass while all secretly hoping the remainder of the long flight would go by as quickly as possible. Gibbs had continued watching over his Senior Agent since the water bottle incident, much to DiNozzo's chagrin. Tony knew it would be that much harder to feign wellness under the intense and unnerving gaze of his boss.

Tony knew exactly what Gibbs had been doing when he tossed him the water bottle without any kind of head's up. He had now been sitting there for just under an hour, beating himself up for falling right into his bosses' sneaky little trap. '_Damn he knew him better than to expect anything less from Gibbs'_, he thought to himself. '_I should have been paying more attention, I should have anticipated the fact that he would be able to tell I was in pain! The man's a damn psychic!!_' Tony then let his head fall back against the wall once again as he focused on keeping his breathing under control, and hence the pain in his side.

Vance had waited until Gibbs had looked towards him, then taking advantage of finally capturing the man's attention, he made sure Gibbs saw him as he nodded his head ever so slightly in DiNozzo's direction, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was asking his Lead Agent if Tony was okay. He was overcome with guilt of his own as he finally regretted forcing the team members to come to Israel on his orders. Because of those orders, they were now one man, or woman rather, down and another agent seemed to be getting sicker by the hour and it seemed rather obvious that whatever had happened to cause the agent's healing injuries from the Rivkin disaster, to suddenly worsen, had also been a result of this trip.

Gibbs would be the first to admit that he was caught off guard a bit by his superior's sudden compassion for the same man he had always seemed to dislike with every intensity. Gibbs remained cautiously objective but couldn't help but wonder if the Director's feelings towards DiNozzo had actually changed for the better, or if it was simply stemming from his own personal guilt that was eating at him – knowing that he had thrown Tony to the wolves so to speak.

In response to Leon's questioning glances, Gibbs could only reply using his own facial expressions and maybe a hand gesture or two as long as Tony's eyes remained closed. So he ended up scrunching his lips together slightly as he shook his head slowly side to side informing Vance that things were not looking good. He then carefully pointed his finger towards his own ribcage and then offered a thumbs down sign to let the Director know that whatever was making the sick Agent's face twist in pain at every turbulent bump of the plane – seemed to be getting worse, fast.

Another hour of the flight had come and gone with no further commotion. Tony had slept restlessly with the hand from his uninjured arm was holding his left side, hidden slightly by his suit jacket, as both of his supervisor's remained awake and on full alert in case he took another turn for the worse.

Then it seemed that all hell had begun to break loose as the plane suddenly dropped what seemed like a good ten feet down as it hit a particularly bad pocket of air! The sudden jolt that was created as the plane had dropped, felt almost as intense as if the bottom of the plane had bounced off the ground and then shot back up like a carnival ride. The harsh movement caused Tony to yell out loudly in obvious and extreme pain. "Aaaauuuggghh!!" he cried, this time unable to stifle the holler in any way – releasing the yell with it's full magnitude as he felt as though someone had stabbed a long sword all the way through the left side of his torso. His eyes shot open in shock over the unexpected drop in altitude and from the increased pain this had caused.

Within seconds the plane had further righted itself and the turbulence seemed to subside, both Gibbs and Leon were automatically unbuckling their seat harnesses to get to the ailing passenger. Gibbs could predict what was coming and grabbed a small bucket nearby, dumping out the tools and bolts that were housed within it. In no time he had gotten the item over to Tony just in time for the man to lose the lunch he never even had, merely producing bile in it's place. Once he had finished retching what little he had inside of him, and the dry heaving had subsided, Gibbs placed the bucket a few feet away in case it was needed again. Before Tony had time to even take in his surroundings and realize what was happening, Vance had released him from his own seat harness and together with Jethro they carefully pulled the man out of his seat, laying him gently onto the floor. Tony was writhing in agony the entire time, the sling had long slipped off of his arm, both of his hands now clutching his stomach on the left, even harder than before.

"That's it! I'm calling Ducky!" Gibbs shouted over the loud engines of the cargo plane. In a flash he was gone, already half way to the cockpit to alert the pilots as to what was going down, and to commandeer their radio to call his trusted ME.

Vance began to remove Tony's expensive designer tie, proceeding to unbutton his dress shirt - much to Tony's chagrin. Tony tried to feebly push the Director's hands away, knowing that he would see the deep bruising and then his charade would be over. All of the effort he had taken to make sure no one knew just how badly he was injured during the fight. Lucky for him the Doctor in ER that night, had been vague in his description of Tony's injuries and it didn't hurt that the worst of the bruising had not even made it's presence known until later that night, almost as if they had run so deep that it took the colorful masses a while to reach the surface of his skin.

Vance just ignored the very weak hands of the fallen agent, determined not to be delayed as he continued his mission to find out what was wrong. Everyone at NCIS had to obtain and keep up on their certification for basic first aid, mainly to prepare for moments like this. Vance ran through the checklist for treatment of shock in his mind, he then proceeded to tackle each task one by one starting with unbuttoning the shirt to help cool and later examine the patient, followed by removing his own coat and placing it over Tony's waist and legs. He would pull the coat further up once they assessed the man's injuries to see what they were dealing with. And third he laid his hand on the man's forehead checking his temperature. The skin was clammy and warm to the touch – obviously feverish. The last thing he did before Gibbs returned, was to place his fingers on Tony's wrist and counting each heartbeat, finding them thready at best and coming a little too fast – both of which confirmed the presence of shock.

"Ducky we have a problem . . . or rather, an emergency!" Gibbs explained to his long time ME and friend.

"What is it Jethro?! I don't recall hearing you this distraught since Tony had the plague! What is i- wait, it's Tony again isn't it?" the older man asked – his voice filled with apprehension.

"Yeah Duck – it's Tony. I don't know what's wrong but I think it has something to do with his ribs, the ones that were initially diagnosed as just badly bruised. He was knocked down by Z- . . . he took a . . . . tumble today at Mossad headquarters." He explained, deciding to leave out details of the incident for now. "He's been getting worse ever since."

Then he paused before the socked ME could reply, "Hey this isn't going to work! He alerted the concerned pilots, "I need a satellite radio if ya got one! I have to get back there to my agent and I need the Doctor to walk us through his exam since we still have 2 and a half hours left on this flight!"

One of the pilots reached behind his seat, producing a fully charged satellite phone. "Here you go sir – it's fully charged and should last the duration of the flight if not longer."

"Ducky hang on, I'm gonna call you back!" Gibbs said as he just let the radio handset fall and went sprinting back to where Tony lay still twisting in obvious pain, dialing up Dr. Mallard along the way.

Vance spotted Gibbs as he was heading in his direction, satellite phone in hand. Once Gibbs had kneeled down on the other side of Tony, Vance jumped up and ran to grab the nearby First Aid kit that was mounted on a nearby wall. It was more than just a basic kit since the military encountered numerous injuries that were typically more serious than just the usual cut and abrasions.

While he listened to Gibbs relay Tony's symptoms and vitals to his trusted ME, he immediately pulled out item after item so once Dr. Mallard began to give them instructions, they could have quick access to whatever they needed. Gibbs had been watching the reactions of the man whom had become so much like a Son to him over the years, it caused him physical pain of his own each time he had to see Tony in so much pain. His Agent's eyes were screwed tight in agony seemingly oblivious to what was being done around him. The pain too intense to allow his mind to focus on anything - _but_ the pain. "Ducky – hold on a second, I'm handing the phone to Director Vance for a minute, I need to help Tony get his pain under control if I can. Just continue to tell him what you need us to do"

Then after passing the phone off to the slightly surprised man next to him, Gibbs leaned down closer to Tony's face, placing one of his hands on each side of his face so he could force him to try to open his eyes and look at him, hoping to get him to focus on what he was saying. "Hey – Tony. Tony listen I need you to look at me, I know you're in pain but you have to let me help you. Ya hear me?"

Tony felt hands cupping his face, he left his head being turned slightly to the left as he tried to listen to the words he was hearing, while trying hard to block out the worst of the pain. He had been trying to force his mind to think of something else, anything else. He tried to breathe through the pain but nothing was working. He couldn't recall ever having pain like this before – even after getting shot in the past.

His bosses' voice finally broke through his fog of misery, he only retained a couple of words here and there, "-ony . . .need you to . . . pain . . . let me help you . . . –ear me?"

"Bo-sss?" he barely mumbled – working harder and harder to shake off his distress and obey his bosses' orders.

"Yeah Tony, I got ya. You are going to be alright but I need you to help me? Can ya do that?"

He responded, his voice shaking from shock, pain and delirium that was threatening to creep in, "Ye- ah . . . b – b-boss – I got-tcha." He then found some extra strength from deep within himself to force his eyes to open, finding himself staring into the calming yet panicked blue eyes of his boss, his Father figure. "-urts Gibbsss . . .m' stomach – it – s killin m-me." He admitted, his voice merely a whisper of it's usual volume.

"It's okay Tony, that's a good job. We are on the phone with Ducky now, he will tell us how to help you. Okay you hear me?" he asked his agent as he removed one hand from Tony's face and smoothed his damp, sweaty hair back, brushing it off his all too warm forehead.

"Sit rep Vance?" he said to Leon, asking for an update on Ducky's latest instructions. "Here Gibbs, Dr. Mallard said it's okay to administer a low dose of morphine for the pain. He said it's critical that we relieve it to some extent because if it stays at this level, Agent DiNozzo's shock will worsen that much faster." Then handing Jethro a pre-filled hypodermic syringe filled with one dose of liquid morphine he added, "Uh, would you mind doing the honors Gibbs? I've personally never done that well around needles. Sorry."

Gibbs decided not to bother with his 'apologies are a sign of weakness' speech, there was no time to waste on stupid rules right now. Grabbing the syringe from his hand, along with the antiseptic wipe to prep Tony's skin for the injection, he pulled back Tony's now unbuttoned shirt, planning to inject the pain relieving medication into his abdomen per Ducky's instructions. Both he and Vance audibly gasped as they laid eyes upon the massive bruising for the first time. Neither of the men had been prepared for that, they both silently wondered how the battered man had managed to pull the wool over all of their eyes, acting as though he had nothing more than his busted arm to cause him pain. This amount of bruising was definitely not going to result in the 'bruised rib' diagnosis he had received, Gibbs had enough broken ribs in the past to know that damage like this from an accident or a fight, would have cracked – if not broken the ribs beneath the assaulted flesh.

Now this made more sense, Gibbs had questioned how a brawling Tony could have got the better of Rivkin even with the high blood alcohol that slowed him down. These injuries here, were much more in line with Kidon trained Rivkin. '_I wonder if Ziva's knocking him off his feet, broke the ribs that initially were only cracked'_, Gibbs thought to himself, _'What has gotten into you lately Ziva? he pondered with concern'._

Gibbs grabbed the phone out of Vance's shaking hand, not missing the signs of obvious nervousness that the normally emotionless Director was exhibiting, "Duck – his torso is almost completely black and blue, something he kept from all of us dammit! It also looks like the upper left side of his stomach is swollen more so than the right side. Does that tell ya anything?"

In his pain and delirium Tony had absentmindedly grabbed onto Leon's forearm, gripping it tightly as he tried to ride out the newest wave of pain that washed over him. Then the sound of a quiet snap could be heard as one of the seemingly endless streams of toothpicks that were constantly in the Director's mouth, broke in two as he now grimaced in pain as well - just from the superhuman grip that was wrapped around his forearm like a vice.

"Ouuuch!" he yelled as 2 pieces of toothpick fell straight to the floor. "Geez DiNozzo – easy!" he begged.

Per Ducky's continued instructions Gibbs told Vance to begin taking Tony's blood pressure while he tried to find an area on his abdomen that was free of bruising so he could give him the much needed injection. Also getting in his way were the fidgety hands of the suffering patient as Tony kept trying to put his hands back onto his stomach after finally releasing his hold on the Director's arm, that excruciating wave of pain having gone back down to the level of just – unbearable.

"Okay Ducky, the morphine has been administered and his BP reading is 89 over 60. I'm not a Doctor but I'm pretty sure that's too low. What next Duck? Any idea what's causing him this kind of pain?!"

"Unfortunately you are right my good man, 89 over 60 is **not** good. I need you to do one more thing for me, listen carefully - I need you to lightly palpitate the left side of Tony's abdomen, just below the ribcage near the area you said was swelling. Be very, very gentle since if it is what I think it is, things could go from bad to grave in a matter of seconds." He instructed, his last few words causing Gibbs' breath to catch in his throat – he unknowingly didn't breath in again until after he did as he was told.

"Uuuhhhhggg – mmm – Gibz pleez-stop!" came the agonized plea from his patient.

"Tony Im sorry – I'm done – I promise you , I won't do that again. You did good son, you did good – now just hang on, I have your six." He assured him, "Tony I gave you something for the pain, you should start to feel some relief in a few minutes, okay?" he then grabbed a nearby clean rag that Vance had collected earlier, he poured some water from the water bottle that Tony had dropped earlier and proceeded to wipe the sweat off of his agent's face, using all the gentleness of a parent caring for a newborn baby.

"Jethro, this is critical that you answer this accurately - was the area tender to the touch, or did it feel firm and taut?" Ducky inquired.

"It was tender Ducky, no doubts. Listen, is it alright if I give him a little water?"

"NO – whatever you do Jethro, Tony must NOT be given **anything** to eat or drink! You hear me? Nothing! Based on the symptoms, the pain, his vitals and localized swelling, combined with the loud yelp of pain I could hear from here when you pressed on the inflicted area – I believe I know what he is suffering from."

"Yeah, well? Come on Duck what is it? What is causing my agent this kind of pain?!" Gibbs demanded.

"I believe Tony's spleen is beginning to rupture."

_**To Be Continued . . . **_

_ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~_

**I almost left off the diagnosis just to make it a better cliff hanger *_evil grin_* but then I figured most of you probably had figured it out on your own based on the symptoms and such. LOL. Please keep up with the encouraging reviews cuz it fills me with renewed excitement and makes me want to get another update done more quickly!! THANKS**

_ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~__ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Online research re: morphine injections and it's relation to pain and shock:**_

_~ Sooner or later pain occurs following all wounds. It can be so slight, that it does not bother the injured person enough to require any particular attention, but if pain is severe it must be relieved! _

_~ Only when it is severe, or when a severely wounded or injured person must be moved quickly (as from a wrecked vehicle or aircraft) it is wise to give Morphine at once. It may not always relieve the pain entirely, but will certainly lessen shock_

_~ Recommendations for injection are to use that part of the body which can be most quickly and easily exposed, such as the loose skin of the abdomen, the thigh, or the upper arm, and to prepare the skin with iodine or alcohol. _


	5. A Race Against Time

A/N Okay now, don't fall over from the shock of seeing three updates from me in 2 days!! I just can't stop writing this story! I promise I will focus on updating all of my other stories over the next few days! For now, enjoy this one! **NOTE: As for the facts re: fever and spleen rupture – that's not necessarily factual but it works so just go with it! I also don't claim the be an expert in geography etc so don't pick apart my flight plan or time lines because again, it works for this story! **

_~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~_

_**Final Scene from the last Ficisode:**_

"_It was tender Ducky, no doubts. Listen, is it alright if I give him a little water?"_

"_NO – whatever you do Jethro, Tony must NOT be given __**anything**__ to eat or drink. You hear me? Nothing! Based on the symptoms, the pain, his vitals and localized swelling, combined with the loud yelp of pain I could hear from here when you pressed on the inflicted area – I believe I know what he is suffering from." Ducky warned him. "Yeah, well? Come on Duck what is it? What is causing my agent this kind of pain?!" Gibbs demanded. _

"_I believe Tony's spleen is beginning to rupture."_

_~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter V**_

_**6 hrs: 40 Minutes into the 9 hour flight. . . .**_

Both Gibbs and Vance exchanged worried glances after hearing Ducky's suspected diagnosis, both men silently feared that the lack of a Doctor on board, and limited medical supplies – that Tony's chances of dying if his spleen did rupture any further, were increasing by the minute.

Ducky took the next couple of minute to tell the men what could have happened to cause the damage to the spleen and said they must do everything in their power to keep Tony from moving much at all. Even going so far as to tie him down if you have to, he added. Gibbs stood up and ran, phone in hand, to the cockpit again, "How long until we get to DC?!" he demanded.

"Uh, not much longer Sir, we should land at 1700 hours - which is about 90 minutes from now. How is Special Agent DiNozzo doing Sir?"

"Not good Lance Corporal Campbell - I need to get him to Bethesda ASAP! What's the quickest way to make that happen?" he asked, Ducky listening from the other side of the satellite phone.

"Well Sir, a ___MedEvac chopper _is able to fly a lot faster than these large cargo planes, there's a Naval Academy in Annapolis we could get to in about 40 minutes and I can call ahead and have a MedEvac flight on standby. They can probably get you to Bethesda in minutes."

"Make it happen Lance Corporal."

Within under a minute Gibbs was back at Tony's side, kneeling down and gently placing his hand on the man's forehead, shocked at the heat that was radiating underneath his fingers. "How is he?"

He asked Vance without taking his eyes off of his Senior Agent.

"The morphine seems to be doing it's job now, he's less agitated than he was a few minutes ago. What's the good word?"

"We are transferring him to a****MedEvac chopper in Annapolis, they will get us to Bethesda a lot faster - should be there in a half hour or so." Then Gibbs after seeing Tony was finally relaxed and still enough to hopefully keep the suspected tear in his spleen from rupturing any further, decided to save the batteries on the satellite phone so as not to run out at a critical time later on in the flight. "Ducky, I'm gonna hang up to save the batteries in this thing, I need you head over to Bethesda as soon as possible, grab McGee and Abby if you can. I will be calling you back on your cell phone Ducky so just make sure the ringer is on loud so you don't miss it." Gibbs instructed.

"Of course Jethro, but I have one last instruction for you as well, you need to monitor Tony's temperature, keep him covered and warm to reduce the shock no matter how much he complains. Most likely he will feel cold anyway – despite the high fever. You need to call me immediately if his temperature rises above 102 degrees Fahrenheit because that will mean we don't have a lot of time left to get him into surgery. Okay my good man, good luck!" and with that, Gibbs was left with only dial tone buzzing in his ear, quickly shutting the phone off.

"Ducky's final instructions were to monitor his temperature and keep him covered and warm." Gibbs relayed the message to Vance as he stood and grabbed some nearby blankets, cocooning his agent in the warm wool. "He said we don't want his temperature to rise any higher than 102, alhough I'm not quite sure just how we are going to keep it from doing that." He added.

"Well, I have a friend who is one of the most renowned surgeons at Bethesda, the call I made earlier was actually to him. I thought of alerting him that we might need his help when I first noticed that Agent DiNozzo's health seemed to be faltering. I have him on alert that we might be bringing someone in. He's one of the best Gibbs, he will take good care of our boy here." Vance all but sucked the air out of Jethro's lungs with the surprising amount of compassion he had just expressed.

Gibbs wasn't about to admit how impressed he was by the Director's actions, but he couldn't help but give the man a hard time for the change of heart. "Oh, so what's changed Lee-on?" Gibbs said, saying Vance's given name a little too sarcastically than he should have, "He used to be 'my boy' and you didn't seem to give a shit whether he even stayed on the team! Now he's _'our'_ boy?!" Jethro felt a little anger over the Director's sudden change of behavior. "Are you feeling a little guilty over basically forcing him to take this ill forsaken trip?!"

"Okay, I suppose I deserved that Jethro. But no, that is not where the seemingly sudden change of heart is coming from! I just had never had a chance to witness first hand just what a good job this man does, granted in his own – uh . . ._ unique_ style. That was extremely impressive what he did back at Mossad. Director Eli is one of the toughest people to crack that I have ever met, your man did it in under ten minutes. That's some damn good work!"

The men's intense conversation was suddenly interrupted when they both noticed Tony starting to squirm ever so slightly, without even opening his eyes he muttered, "Your not gonna kiss me now or s'mpthin are ya Direct'r?" he teased, his lips curled into a half grin in an effort to joke off the uncomfortable tension in the room. The morphine was also starting to obviously affect his mind as pain meds always seemed to make him more goofy than the average person.

His sluggish words amused the other men who both let out a chuckle that was filled with relief over seeing Tony coherent for the first time in over two hours.

"Yer not my type DiNozzo." The Director teased back.

Tony was sure that the complimentary words he had just been privvy to, were simply a result of his fevered state of mind, a hallucination in delerium and nothing more. Morphine now seemed to make him hear things, he thought as he laid there, happy to have the albeit short term relief from his earlier pain.

_**15 Minutes Later – 20 minutes prior to arrival in Annapolis . . .**_

While the Director, still seated on the floor near the outstretched patient, rested his head back against the chair, closing his eyes for a few minutes to rest – while Gibbs adjusted Tony's blankets time and time again, mainly as a nervous outlet for his worry. Then grabbing the digital thermometer for yet another temp check, he looked down to find two green glassy eyes looking up at his from the pale and sweat peppered face.

Setting the thermometer down, he grabbed one of the clean towels, added more cool water to it, and used it to wipe down Tony's face for the umpteenth time in the last hour.

"How ya holding up DiNozzo? Your pain still under control or is it creeping back up again?" he asked, his own blue eyes filled with concern and comfort.

"Bossss?" came the very slurred reply, ignoring the question his boss had asked, "Ssssoo wha's wrong wth me - huh?" he asked in a voice that sounded years younger than his age.

"You're gonna be just fine Tony, I need you to keep doing what you're doing and lay still. Ducky thinks it might be your spleen. Said something about your ribs breaking when you uh . . . fell at Mossad headquarters and that it's possible that a bone fragment, possibly as small as a splinter of wood - may have lodged in your spleen causing a small tear. That's why it is critical that you do not move around too much – ya got that?" Gibbs shuddered at the thought of his Agent's spleen rupturing further, pushing the worrisome thought to the back of his mind.

"My sspleeen?? Wow - didn't see that comin'" he replied, "Sorry boss, I-"

Gibbs cut him off, "Sorry?! Tony YOU have nothing to be sorry about! Ziva is the one who let her emotions get the best of her, Ziva is the one who lied to all of us, held back critical intel AND is most likely responsible for your cracked ribs breaking and lacerating your damn spleen!" Gibbs managed to keep his voice down to a dull roar so as not to aggravate Tony further, losing control on the anger that had been building ever since they first heard about Ziva's connection to the rogue Mossad killer.

"S'okay boss really. Don't let her get to you like that, she has been torn between her life at Mossad and NCIS, she-" Tony attempted to play devil's advocate.

"No Tony - don't you dare defend her. She had no right to take you down like that, that was unprofessional and you didn't deserve that. You would not be facing emergency surgery if she had kept her distance to you in the first place! Now let's change the subject before I end up punching something." Gibbs relented, realizing Tony did not need to hear his rant right now. Then forcing a smile on his face, he grabbed the thermometer and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Tony smiled ever so slightly at how protective his boss had sounded just then, it made him feel warm inside, and that wasn't from any fever.

"Now just lie still and be quiet. I'm just gonna see how hot you really are." He teased, placing the thermometer in Tony's left ear, noticing the man's eyes had drifted closed again. Upon hearing the low toned beep as the thermometer announced it had finished it's job, Gibbs looked at the numbers that appeared in the small digital display.

Then reaching over, he shook the Director by the knee, Vance's eyes flew open alluding to the fact that he had still kept himself on high alert even though his eyes were closed. "What ?! What is it?!"

"I think we have a problem." Gibbs answered, handing the thermometer to Vance who then read the resulting numbers aloud.

**103.1 F**

_**To Be Continued . . . **_

**Keep up with the awesome reviews! I love you all for taking the time to do that!! Those who haven't reviewed – I'd love to hear from you too! **


	6. Turbulence!

**A/N: Okay all – now I am starting to get messages from readers of my other stories – because I have been neglecting all of them – to write THIS one. Hahaha I can't seem to help myself, it's like having a favorite child! So just keep up with the amazingly awesome reviews and I will hopefully return the favor by continuing to give you amazing updates. Don't correct me on the military positions I gave the pilots, I have no idea what level of command that type of position would have so who cares – I just gave them whatever titles I wanted.**

**SNEAK PEAK:** I don't want to give too much away but I have some BIG things planned for this story and it's going to extend to many, many chapters!! Do you really think Mossad – especially the Director/Ziva's Dad – would just 'get over' the fact that Tony killed one of their men? Do you also think Director Eli doesn't suspect that there is more between Tony and his Daughter? The man has photos of Tony going to her house _**(Shalom**_ epi) on a weekly basis and heaven knows what other evidence he has. In my story Eli feels Tony needs to be held accountable for his actions – not only for killing Rivkin but in Eli's mind he also feels Tony is responsible for turning his Daughter against him, and for pulling her away from her true calling as a Mossad Operative.

Ziva will get wind of what her Father is planning and she will try to intervene. Her guilt over what she put Tony through - from lying to him about her initial trip to Israel when he was an Agent Afloat, to keeping her relationship with Rivkin from him, to finally hurting him physically on the most recent trip to her homeland (when she knocked him down hard even tho injured), which will result in him needing surgery to repair the damage.

In my story Ziva won't be going to Africa - at least not yet and not in the way the show wrote it.

NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~

_**Final Scene from Chapter V:**_

"Now just lie still and be quiet. I'm just gonna see how hot you really are." He teased, placing the thermometer in Tony's left ear, noticing the man's eyes had drifted closed again. Upon hearing the low toned beep as the thermometer announced it had finished it's job, Gibbs looked at the numbers that appeared in the small digital display. Then reaching over, he shook the Director by the knee, Vance's eyes flew open alluding to the fact that he had still kept himself on high alert even though his eyes were closed. "What?! What is it?!"

"I think we have a problem." Gibbs answered, handing the thermometer to Vance who then read the resulting numbers aloud.

_**103.1 F **_

_**~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS**~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter VI**_

_**7 hrs: 18 Minutes into the 9 hour flight. . . .**_

"Uh-oh, what the-? His temperature went up fast! What did Ducky's say we should do if it gets this high." Vance asked, feeling more out of control than he was comfortable with – and not liking it in the least.

"He didn't." came Gibbs short reply. "Jus' said getting him proper medical attention would be that much more critical. I'm calling him, I'm sure he's gonna want an update on the other vitals so here –" Gibbs tossed the blood pressure cuff towards the Director, "Make y'rself useful - check his BP while I make the call."

Ducky answered almost immediately having been waiting for them to call back, worried about how things were going. Gibbs quickly filled his long time friend in on the latest unnerving reading from the thermometer "So Duck, what's the story? What the hell is causing his fever to rise so fast and how in the hell are we supposed to bring it down when we are 30,000 feet above the earth?!" Gibbs vented, standing a few feet from Tony but not letting him out of his sight for a second. "It's still gonna be a good half hour before we can get him help – I need to know what we're lookin' at here . . . he gonna make it Duck?"

"Jethro the worst thing we can do right now is to lose hope. The fever is merely rising as a sign of warning that the infection inside his spleen is worsening and unfortunately that is normal and there is nothing you can do to stop it, I'm afraid surgery is the only thing that will help the boy at this point. The body is very clever, when it senses a foreign object invading an organ such as the suspected bone fragment in Anthony's spleen, it starts to attempt to fight it off and this results in fever and swelling. The more Anthony's spleen swells I'm afraid, the higher the chances are that the tear will widen and create a more serious rupture. What is his blood pressure?"

Gibbs knelt back down next to Tony and across from Vance who was just putting the BP cuff back in the first aid box. "What was the reading Vance?" Gibbs asked as he pulled one of Tony's closed eyelids open to check his pupil dilation, his Agent having slipped into blessed unconsciousness about 20 minutes prior.

"Surprisingly it seems to be holding somewhat steady, 88 over 60."

"D'ya hear that Duck?"

"Yes, yes I did. I don't suppose there is an IV kit amongst the rest of the first aid supplies? Nevermind, I am certain you would have informed me if there had been. Well Jethro, I am on my way to Bethesda as we speak - Timothy is heading their shortly with Abigail, they are just waiting some results from one of her many robotic machines. I suggest you just go continue to watch over the lad, he's going to need all of our support to get him through this. Do whatever you can to keep him from moving around if you can and remember this - his subconscious mind may still be able to hear anything that is said around him so keep talking to him Jethro, positive words my good fellow, positive words." Ducky instructed.

Gibbs was just about to disconnect the call after promising to call again if anything changed when with no warning whatsoever - there was a tremendous **BANG** that reverberated throughout the plane – the disarming sound came from beneath the right side of the massive plane. The plane dropped even more drastically than it did earlier during the bout of turbulence they had encoutered earlier. Gibbs and Vance unknowingly held their breath while the plane pitched fitfully and rolled slightly to the right for a matter of painfully long and scary seconds before righting itself, or rather after _being_ righted by two very talented Pilots.

As the drastic tilt caused all three men to slide and fall toward the right side of the plane, Gibbs immediately grabbed onto Tony's shoulders, using all his strength to try to keep him from obtaining any more harm or injuries, _'so much for keeping him still' _was the first thought that crossed the lead Agent's frazzled mind. Once the plane was back on track and flying straight, both Gibbs and Vance quickly looked toward their patient to make sure the sudden movement hadn't aggravated his condition any further, a low grunt of pain came from the injured man as the abrupt jerking had indeed jarred his aching body.

Gibbs sniffed at the air around him as his incredible sense of smell immediately detected the faint scent of smoke, his supersonic hearing detected thea distinct change in the usually intense roaring of the plane's four engine's, it seemed the sound was not as abrasive as it had been prior to the loud bang. He was up on his feet and standing in the cockpit before Vance had even begun to notice the smell of smoke.

"What the hell was that?!" he barked to the flight crew.

While waiting for the main Pilot, Lt. Andrew Carver, to respond, Gibbs noticed that there was a new intensity in the cockpit as the movements of the pilots were more hurried and active than earlier when he had come to see them, they were flipping switches and turning knobs at nothing less than a frantic pace. The CoPilot was talking to someone quietly on his radio headset, alerting the tower at the Naval Academy in Annapolis of the plane's potentially dire situation.

"Lost an Engine Sir." came the shocking reply from the Pilot, "Not sure what happened yet Agent Gibbs, I have lost engines before on plenty of flights - but _never _have I had it sound like that just did!"

Gibbs' suspicious mind started spinning, immediately pondering what that could mean. '_What was so different about this one, had this been more than just an unfortunate malfunction? Could someone have rigged the doomed engine to explode in hopes that it would be enough to bring the plane down?_' he thought, '_if so, who would do that and . . . why_?' Then Gibbs had the most alarming thought thus far, '_If that **was** true then, what of the remaining three engines? Had they also been tampered with?" _he scrubbed his hand down over his face, distressed by the thought of the catastrophe that could result in.

_**Back in Israel, Director David's Office at Mossad Headquarters (Timeline: approx 4 hours into the NCIS flight) . . .**_

"Hadar, I need a status report – now! Has your team been able to accomplish the task we discussed?"

Amit Hadar looked uncomfortable, he knew the Director didn't take it well when someone crossed him, but he had never known the man to be_ this_ vindictive, and take action so quickly. "Yes Sir, the task was completed as you requested and it shouldn't be long before we hear more about the . . . uh, result of the . . . task."

"What is this? Why do you sound so apprehensive all of a sudden Hadar? You have something more you want to say to me? Hmmm? Do you think in your weak little mind that I am overreacting?" the Mossad Director grilled him. "Do you not also think that NCIS is hiding something in regard to Michael's untimely death? I do not believe for one minute that Michael would have allowed that juvenile, pathetic excuse for an Agent, Mr. ANT-ony DiNo-zzo – to gain the upper hand in the alleged fight. It is my belief that Agent DiNozzo acted from a place of pure jealousy and nothing more, I believe his actions were premeditated and I will not sit by without seeking some kind of retribution! No one messes with Mossad and go unpunished!" he said, his anger so fierce that his face was warmed by the redness from his rising blood pressure.

Hadar was silent, he knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. He had spent 45 minutes driving with Tony to the Mossad Headquarters from the airstrip and though he would never admit this to his boss, Director David, he had found himself growing to like the man. The regret and sadness in the American Agent's eyes, spoke volumes in regard to the result of his recent actions. It was clear to Amit that Agent DiNozzo's intentions the night of the altercation, were only to protect his partner, only planning to check up on her when things just went drastically awry.

Amit himself had been in his position before in the past where he had become over protective of one of his Mossad partners, so he could relate to DiNozzo, and because of his own experience he could completely understand the Agent's automatic and selfless need to protect his own partner. Hadar actually found it to be a very noble gesture, he also knew of Rivkin's problems with alcohol – having also been on the receiving end of the drunken Officer's flying fists when he had tried to convince his friend to admit he had a problem.

"Director, if I might speak candidly?" he finally asked, seeing the Director wave his hand indicating he could continue, "You know me to be a man of my word, I have worked for you for many years and you know that I am vocal about my opinions, especially when it concerns a case or the agency itself. I did not get a sense that Agent DiNozzo was lying." He waited to gauge the Director's reaction and upon seeing that he still had his full attention and no weapons had been pulled, he breathed a deeper breath of relief and continued.

"Sir, with all due respect, you have had many partners before in your career with Mossad – yes? Haven't you ever become protective over your partner at one time or another? It is just what partners do – they watch each other's backs." Hadar suddenly felt the rising of nausea in his throat as he realized he may be saying his peace at little too late to stop the intended attack on the engine's of the cargo plane that was taking the team back to DC. He leaned his hands on the back of the tall leather chair that was positioned in front of him, trying to steady himself to await Eli's response.

"Amit . . ." the Director started to reply, standing up from his desk and walking around to stand in front of the chair that Officer Hadar was leaning on, " You and I go back many, many years my friend, do we not? I respect that you have always been very vocal and firm about your beliefs, no matter how controversial they may be. In fact, I will admit, that is one of the traits that I most respect in a man – that I most respect in you." Eli smiled in order to give an air of sincerity to his own words. Amit Hadar was so relieved at the positive response he was getting, that he failed to notice the almost sinister look exuding from the powerful man's eyes.

"Yes, yes I do believe that partners should have each other's backs whenever possible, but we are talking about my Daughter here!" he said, his voice starting to rise up again, the smile gone from his face. "No one, and I mean NO one, messes with the David family and lives to tell the tale. This is not all about Michael Rivkin, this is about my daughter's heart – and I will die before I see her heart, broken by some childish American pretty boy who has nothing more on his shallow mind that to add another notch to his designer belt and move on to the next skirt that catches his eye!" his face was even more red than before, he caught himself losing control of his anger and stopped to allow himself to take some deep breaths to calm down.

Amit stood in shock over the confession he had just been privy to. So this was** not** just a matter of seeking revenge for the death of a Mossad Officer – this was all about the man's constant need to control his daughter's life, regardless of what lengths he had to go take, to do so.

After Eli had gotten control of his rising temper, he forced himself to speak in a softer, more compassionate tone. He knew he had to convince the man in front of him – that he had no intention of killing anyone, not even Agent DiNozzo, but that he only wished to send them a warning – to keep them on their toes and to encourage them to think twice before crossing paths with Mossad again any time soon, "Amit my friend, listen to me - the slight uh . . . _adjustments_ if you will, that were ordered for the cargo plane, you must know that they were not put in place with the intention of bringing the plane _**down**_ – they are in no jeopardy of crashing." he assured him.

"After all Hadar, Director Leon Vance is also aboard that plane and we go back years as friends but also as allies. My only desire in ordering the small explosive devices on some of the engines, was to instill a little fear in the minds of one Agent Leroy Gibbs, and Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo – then perhaps they will show more respect to Mossad and think twice in the future before stirring up trouble again." he concluded as a malicious grin appeared on his face, obviously pleased with himself.

Hadar was speechless, he thought he knew the man in front of him pretty well. He was still absorbing what he had just heard when the Director added one final comment/threat.

"I also intended this '_message_' to serve the dual purpose of making sure they understand **loud and clear** that they are NOT to even _think _about coming back for my Daughter – in hopes of bringing her back to NCIS. Ziva is home where she belongs, and home is where she shall stay! Forever!"

He then simply turned on his heal and strode out of his own office, leaving a stunned Hadar to gather the pieces of his own still reeling mind.

_**On Board the Globemaster III Cargo Plane, just over Annapolis . . .**_

"Listen to me," Gibbs alerted the two men, "I can't give you any concrete evidence yet but I have a bad feeling about that engine blowing – I don't think it was just an unfortunate malfunction, there is a very likely possibility that one or more of the engines may have been tampered with while the plane was receiving it's required maintenance in Tel Aviv. We need to consider the possibility that this was an act of terrorism and respond accordingly, therefore I need to know - A) how far are we from the Annapolis air strip? And B) what is your protocol in this kind of emergency situation?"

The Pilot answered since the CoPilot was still communicating and getting instructions from the tower, "Protocol begins with alerting the tower which Campbell is already doing, and to arrange for a high alert landing at the closest safe airstrip that had the necessary fire and emergency vehicles. If there is even a remote chance that the plane may catch on fire during landing, they will proactively spray a protective layer of fire suppression foam on the runway to diminish the chances of a full out catastrophic event. All passengers are required to buckle in and assume the crash position as a precautionary measure. Especially in this situation where we can easily land with 3 out of four engines, hell this bird could land with one if we had to! But the fact that we have no way of knowing if any of the other engines or even other parts of the plane may have been tampered with – we will have to assume the worst and plan accordingly."

Gibbs silently took in all in, his mind flashing to his Senior Agent, worried that these added challenges might take his condition from critical but stable – to grave.

"And in answer to your second question," Gibbs forced his attention back to the Pilot, "We are only 15 minutes out from Annapolis so that is still where we will be landing. That is good news since that is where the MedEvac for your partner is going to be waiting. If this had happened any earlier in the flight we would have all been in more serious trouble, especially your ill teammate back there." Gibbs didn't bother correcting the man and telling him that he was actually Tony's BOSS, not partner. But realistically he actually looked at Tony as more of a partner at this point, though he would never admit that to anyone! He knew Tony was more than overdue and practically overqualified to run his own team at this point, but he liked having the man on his six and sometimes felt a little selfish that he purposely made no attempts whatsoever to find his Senior Agent a position in which to manage his own team, simply because he didn't want to lose him and he honestly didn't trust anyone else's ability to watch his six to the extent that he trusted Tony.

He made the decision right then and there, that he would come clean with him once they got out of this mess. He would finally tell Tony just how important he had become to him both professionally – and personally.

After the Pilot asked Gibbs to go secure the rest of the plane and the other two passengers, Gibbs immediately headed to the main torso of the plane. But when he got within a few feet from where Director Vance was still kneeling down by Tony, once again checking his temperature, a second and more intense BANG jolted the entire flying structure even more so than before!

Only this time, as gravity left them temporarily tossing them all up into the air. Gibbs being the only one in a fully upright position, his head nearly collided with the ceiling from the severity of the third and most traumatic drop of the day. Then just as suddenly as they were all flung in the air like rag dolls, they were dropped back down to the hard floor of the plane even faster - as all of them lay stunned and dazed, Tony still down for the count and oblivious to _any_ of it, smoke began to rapidly seep in through seams in the flooring beneath them!

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis**_

**I know – I'm SORRY - I hate it hate it hate it when I am reading a story and left with such a cliff hanger – yet I can't seem to help myself when I am writing the story!**

**Don't hate me – just review!!! I am excited to see what you all think of the added drama to this fic! THANKS!!**

**BnB **


	7. Picking Up The Pieces

_**I had hoped to get this posted yesterday - sorry I did not make it. I kept falling asleep. haha Once again I am posting this and I will go back later to correct any minor errors if there are any. And once again don't quote me on the medical jargon or anything else for that matter. Some things I research and some things I just play with to fit with my story. I hope you enjoy - it's a nice long chapter!**_

_**Final Scene from the Previous Chapter:**_

Gibbs being the only one in a fully upright position, his head nearly collided with the ceiling from the severity of the third and most traumatic drop of the day. Then just as suddenly as they were all flung in the air like rag dolls, they were dropped back down to the hard floor of the plane even faster - as all of them lay stunned and dazed, Tony still down for the count and oblivious to _any_ of it, smoke began to rapidly seep in through seams in the flooring beneath them!

_**~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS**~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_Chapter VII_

The second engine of the day – now rendered useless and still slightly on fire leaving only two engines left to keep the massive plane in the air. Gibbs laid still, dazed on the floor after having hit his head on something while they had been bouncing around like socks in a dryer. Based on the throbbing of his skull, he wasn't so sure that he hadn't hurt himself enough to leave him slightly concussed. The pain and the fact that he had to struggle to shake off the fogginess in his brain, made him realize that he most likely did have at least some low level concussion. Reaching up with a shaky hand, he felt a small bump just at hairline above his forehead. His eyes caught a glimpse of something red as he brought his fingers back down from the small cut he had found just below the bump. He wasn't sure exactly what he had hit his head on, but he was satisfied that it wasn't anything too serious.

Then for the first time, he noticed the smoke that was building in the air around them, realizing what that meant and the added danger it presented, that was all it took to get him to focus and pull himself up off the floor. Adrenaline was a powerful hormone at a time like this! He set forth to find some items that would be needed, now that they had this new threat - slowly billowing smoke.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Vance was also starting to rise up from the floor, though he now seemed to be favoring his right wrist and forearm and was also sported a bloody nose. Nothing that he couldn't handle on his own.

As Gibbs continued on his mission, he quickly found what he was looking for - all planes was equipped with oxygen masks and on a cargo plane like this they were similar to those found on a regular airplane, with the exception that did not offer the convenience of automatically dropping from the ceiling. Gibbs moved to the cabinet that housed the life saving masks and quickly grabbed three of them. After tossing one of them to the Director, Gibbs began to rush towards Tony, who was now lying at least 4 feet further toward the back of the plane, than he had been before they took their latest tumble.

Once he drew closer to Tony's position, he was overwhelmed with relief when the first thing he spotted through the grey haze of smoke, was the green and slightly watery eyes of his Senior Field Agent. But the relief he felt over seeing him conscious again, was quickly replaced with concern as he noticed the glassy appearance and frantic look that Tony's eyes also conveyed. His eyes were wide with fear as he looked from right to left, up and down, as though trying to figure out where he was and what was happening. Gibbs dropped to his knees with enough force to aggravate his bum knee, so focused on getting to Tony before he started moving too much, that he hadn't even noticed the sharp pain from his knee as it shot up into his thigh due to his haste to get to his man's side.

"Tony." Gibbs wanted to at least announce his approach so as not to startle the disoriented man - before he quickly slid an oxygen mask over Tony's face and then slipped one over his own nose and mouth.

"Bo-osss?" Tony's voice was slightly muffled by the intrusive mask and he found himself disoriented by the smoke since the last thing he recalled, he had been starting to fade out while lying on the floor of a then - _smoke free_ – plane. But if that was true, then what happened since then? How long had he been out? Why was he now wearing an oxygen mask and barely able to make out his bosses' features? What was causing this smoky haze in the air? So many questions fluttered through his dimmed mind . . .

"Boss . . . 's zat you? I can bare-ly see you . . . " he asked while weakly trying to reach up and remove the annoying mask but never quite reaching it due to how weak he had become, his arm felt as if the shirt sleeve that covered it was made of heavy cement.

"Yeah Tony - it's me. Now just lie still while I see how you are doing, alright?." he was using his _'Nice Gibbs'_ tone that Tony hated. It made him nervous.

. . ._'I must be pretty bad off if 'Nice Gibbs' is coming out. Does that mean I'm dying?" _Tony thought, _'after all, the last time he acted **this **nice - we did lose someone.'_ He instantly regretted letting his mind go back to such horrible time in their lives. But if Tony had learned anything from all of the huge losses they had experienced, it was how to quickly purge the depressing thoughts from his mind. If he didn't think about it, he didn't have to deal with it - ever.

He forced his attention back to the here and now and realized his boss was saying something to him.

"DiNozzo - did you hear me?"

"Yeah" was all the response Tony could muster.

Gibbs sensed the somber mood shift and quickly resorted back to the only way he knew how, to bring Tony's spark back.

"Good! Now listen DiNozzo - I am here. I'm here because **s**_**omeone** _needs to watch your six and make sure you don't do somethin' stupid like trying to move around or even worse, get up - and hurt yourself worse. Ya got that?!"

"Yes - I got it Boss, I got it." then when he saw his boss turn his head away to reach for something, Tony allowed a triumphant smile to brighten his face. If anything, he figured the oxygen mask would hide his sneaky grin from view.

Gibbs turned his head away to look for the wet towel they had used earlier so he could wipe the bood from his forehead. He couldn't stop the half grin from forming on his own face as he savored the fact that his toughened approach had worked. It was all it had taken to get Tony's head out of the cloud of negative thoughts he was stuck in. Then as he started to turn back to his Agent, he caught a glimpse of Tony's grin out of the corner of his eye.

He had to turn his head away again as he fought the urge to chuckle out loud. Who had just tricked whom? Now - he wasn't sure!

When Gibbs turned back again towards Tony, he had the towel in his hand but hadn't yet begun to use it on his head. By then Tony's eyes and groggy mind had cleared enough to where he finally noticed the the bright red dribble of blood that was trickling down his bosses' forehead.

"What hap'ned Boss? . . . y'r face-is-bleeding . . . oh God – we didn't crash did we??" he asked, closing his eyes since they were starting to burn and water from the partially smoke filled cabin. His head was pounding and the action of squinting in an effort to see better, only seemed to aggravate his headache further.

"Tony listen we just - "

"No wait - don't tell me." Tony muttered cutting Gibbs off . . .

"Yeah - okay t-tell me." he said after a slight pause – his need to know everything, winning over his fear.

Gibbs cracked a barely detectable grin, he knew exactly what Tony was doing. Cracking jokes or being silly was almost as automatic for Tony as breathing was to most people. Especially in times of high drama or stress, everyone could always count on him to release the unspoken tension in the room at the critical juncture when a bust had gone bad, or a case had proven to be an emotional roller coaster.

Tony's perfectly timed and hilarious antics or joking words, would usually cause everyone to either chuckle, or burst full out into laughter or - in Gibbs case - just crack a _full_ smile as opposed to his usual _half_ smile. Once that extreme tension and worry had been finally released, everyone then seemed way better situated and more able to focus on getting through the stressful event undamaged. Gibbs realized this as well as the fact that none of them ever acknowledged this observation out loud, even though he knew the entire team was well aware of Tony's unspoken power. He made a mental note to thank Tony on behalf of the team, for his unique talent for helping to get them all more prepared mentally and emotionally, to go through some of the more traumatic cases and dangerous arrests among other things.

Suddenly his thoughts were jolted back to the present as he caught a grimace of pain that took over Tony's face. It didn't take a genius to see that the man was in far more pain than he had been before – and that was saying a lot!

"Tony, I need you to listen to me. First, no we did not crash, and second, as far my head goes, it's just a little scrap. Right now, we have more important things to focus on - okay? Like getting you to a hospital. But I just need **you** to stop fidgeting and save your strength - got it?"

Tony nodded his head so slightly that most people would have missed it. Thankfully for Tony - Gibbs wasn't _'most people'_.

"Oh and DiNozzo – you leave that damn mask alone or I will have no problem breaking your fingers to match that arm of yours!" Gibbs added, relieved to see Tony conscious, at least for now - and even happier to hear his voice, no matter how weak it had become.

"K'aay Boss-ss. Jus' telll me what the s-smoke's from." He asked, more and more lines of pain were appearing on his face the longer he remained conscious.

"It's nothing DiNozzo - we just had a rough time with some . . . unexpected turbulence and . . . well, it must have shaken something loose, and causing the smoke." He hated to lie to him by downplaying the whole event, but he also couldn't risk having Tony do what he would have naturally attempted, which would have been to pull himself up off the floor and try to help, forgetting all about his own precarious situation.

But lie or not, whatever he said, had the result he had hoped for as he noticed that Tony's eyes had stopped darting all over the place, he had hoped that his Senior Agent would relax again once he got his bearings and keep holding on to some level of hope. He also just needed to make sure Tony knew that he was safe, that all of them were safe since he knew that would improve his spirits substantially to help him fight the good fight to keep breathing. But on thing still didn't seem to be decreasing - the grimaces of sheer agony that kept appearing on Tony's face. Gibbs knew this was a definite sign that the sudden burst of adrenaline Tony had felt after first being jarred awake, had all but worn off.

While Gibbs was tending to Tony, checking out his arm, ribs and abdomen - Vance wasted no time in getting up and heading for the cockpit to talk with the Pilots, he found that both of the men were also sporting oxygen masks, at least until the smoke had further dissipated. Vance quickly demanded a sit-rep on what had happened this time and planned to find out what kind of damage had been done and how serious it was. He had insisted that they contact the Naval Academy where they would hopefully still be landing, and make sure that NO one touched the plane in any way, shape of form when they arrived. He ordered the cargo plane to be moved into a hangar and taped off like the crime scene they suspected it had almost become.

He planned to have it thoroughly inspected for possible sabotage as well as making sure there were no more hidden contraptions or explosives on the massive plane. He wanted every inch of the plane searched for any evidence that could be found and he wanted to know exactly what had been done to the plane and begin the process of finding out who may have been behind it. He had his suspicions but for now he hated to speculate any further, until they had more information.

Tony hissed through clenched teeth as the pain in his side returned with a vengeance. He knew that if it continued at this level, he would most likely pass out - again. But even through the haze of pain and his groggy, cluttered mind – there was something in his bosses' voice that was bothering him. Something he was holding back.

"Boss-sss? Ss'not . . .tur-bul-ence-ss . . .issss-it?" Tony questioned his Superior's earlier explanation of what had caused the smoke. He was feeling more and more groggy and out of it by the minute and his tongue suddenly felt almost as if it was getting too heavy to move, making it seem even harder to form the words that his mind was trying to get him to say.

Even semi-conscious, Gibbs knew that Tony could sense that something more sinister was at work here – he knew that Tony was coherent enough to figure out that he had been through worse turbulence before, on numerous occasions - and _never_ had it caused fire and smoke!

Another concern besides having to lie to his Agent in order to keep him focused on his health and not on their new dangerous situation, was the way Tony's words had become far more slurred than he was comfortable with, he wished Ducky were here or that he could call him one more time before they had to start preparing for the landing. But Vance had grabbed the Satellite phone on his way to the cockpit since he had arrangements to make, among other things that came along with wearing the Director's hat.

Since it was completely up to Gibbs to monitor his subordinate's condition, he realized that he had not finished examining Tony anywhere other than his torso after the latest drop in altitude when the 2nd engine blew. The slurring could have just been from shock or possible loss of blood, if Ducky's suspected diagnosis was accurate. Or it could be the beginning stages of a more serious _hypovalemic_ shock that even Gibbs knew was a serious side effect of internal bleeding.

Something wasn't sitting right and of that, he was sure. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more going on. Especially the way Tony's glassy eyes appeared when he woke up, noticeably different from when he was conscious earlier. Something about how his eyes looked and how he was slurring more, reminded Gibbs of how Tony usually got following one of his numerous past concussions.

Before he started to do a more thorough inspection of his Agent, he thought he had best inform Tony of what he was doing so as not to confuse his increasingly jumbled mind. "Tony, hey I am just gonna check you out a little better to make sure you haven't injured anything new from that jolt we all took. You've already seen the little souvenir I now have thanks to that joy ride from hell." He said as he attempted to keep things lighthearted, which seemed to be Tony's comfort zone. Not many people knew that Gibbs could even_ be_ light hearted! Hell, he himself had been known as one of the biggest jokesters around - before his whole life was swept out from under him as he lost the love of his life and his Daughter. But right now, Tony was as close to family as he had now and he was willing to do just about anything to keep from losing him as well.

A lump formed in his throat as he noticed Tony's eyes fluttering wildly in an obvious attempt to stay open and awake, trying to concentrate on his bosses' words, and keep his eye from closing completely. All Tony could mutter at this point was a sluggish and barely audible "Hmmm-ok boss-ss."

He knew that his Senior Agent was fighting hard to stay conscious and alert against his body's demands. Tony's natural instinct was always to watch his bosses' six, and not even his injured and weak body would deter him from his goal! Or so he thought.

Gibbs watched in relief as Tony finally succumbed to his body's demands and drifted off as he finally just became too damn weak to keep fighting it. Once he was out, Gibbs knew it would be easier to examine him and not cause him any additional suffering.

After looking around, he was pleased to find that the air was relatively clear of the worst of the smoke, the automatic fire protection that was built into these planes had done it's job well. After yanking off his own mask and tossing it to the side, he made a small hiss of pain as the hasty action aggravated the cut on his forehead. Then he reached behind Tony's head, lifting it slightly so he could get a hold of the elastic band, planning to be more cautious with the removal of his mask.

But suddenly his hands stopped mid-way through the task as his fingers slid over a pretty sizeable bump on the backside of Tony's head. Something he hadn't noticed earlier because it most likely hadn't started swelling yet. Upon moving his fingers to further inspect the knot, he detected an all too familiar warm and sticky substance that could only be one thing - slightly congealed blood!

He felt sick with despair as he felt the distinct beat of Tony's pulse as some of the precious red liquid continued to slowly pulsate and leak out with each beat of his heart. Since it was on the back of Tony's head, he had naturally been lying directly on the new wound, unintentionally hiding it from view. There was no way even someone as hyper-alert as Gibbs could have noticed it, especially since it had not bled enough to cause a large puddle to form – thankfully.

But nonetheless, it still seemed to be a pretty substantial wound, that upon further inspection appeared to be close to 3 inches in length with a bump that had grown to approximately the size of one half of a hard boiled egg. He gently placed Tony's head back down but not until he had turned the man's chin so that the weight of his head wasn't resting entirely on the new injury. He reached over to grab the First Aid kit that had thankfully stayed in tact during the last small explosion.

He quickly took out some of the antibiotic wipes and started to clean some of the blood from the cut, stopping for a moment to disinfect his own small gash that had also started to form a scab. The problem with cleaning their gashes, was that it would more than likely cause the bleeding to start up again. Since it loosened up the dried blood that had been acting as a plug of sorts, preventing a heavier flow of blood from streaming out. By cleaning that off, it naturally resulted in more blood being free to leak from their wounds once again.

Once the stinging antiseptic touched down on Tony's open wound, he immediately tensed up and then began to weakly squirm. He made a couple of attempts to turn his head away from the pain as a low moan escaped from his lips. Gibbs finally had to hold his head still with one hand, while he used his free hand to cover the cut with a thick wad of sterile gauze, and since tape wouldn't stick to Tony's full head of thick hair – Gibbs had to take more gauze and wrap it around his head and tie it off to keep it all in place. This would keep the gauze held tightly against the cut, and would also keep germs from entering the wound, especially since he wouldn't be able to keep Tony's head from turning so it rested on top of the injury again.

Then he placed another thick piece of gauze over his own cut, pleased to find that it was low enough on his forehead that he could simply tape it in place, rather than having to wrap his entire head like he had to do with Tony's.

After being satisfied that there were no other new injuries to add to the growing list, he decided he had better take a gander underneath Tony's shirt again since it had been a while since he had checked on his abdomen and ribcage.

He made quick work of the few buttons that he had refastened earlier, his couldn't help but cringe at the site of what _had_ to be an extremely tender and painful area. The black and purple skin that marked the injured area was now extremely warm to the touch, a sure sign that the infection deep inside of him - was getting worse. He wanted to do something to help him, '_but what?_' he thought.

As the idea came to his mind it was mixed with frustration and disappointment that he had not thought of it long before now. First he reached under one of the seats and grabbed his duffle bag that held a couple of day's worth of extra clothing and toiletries for the short trip. Then he pulled out one of the clean white T-shirts that he always sported underneath his dress shirts to help combat the cold DC weather. After pushing the bag back under the seat he slowly stood up since his own injured head was still giving him bouts of dizziness and pain whenever he moved too quickly. He then made his way along the plane, holding on to various things along the way for support until he finally reached his goal - the tail section of the plane that housed a mid-size portable cooler.

The cooler had been there the entire trip, in fact he had even taken some water bottles out of it earlier in the flight. But then with all the commotion, Gibbs had all but forgotten that it even existed.

Taking the T-shirt to the cooler with him, he proceeded to fill the cotton material with what was left of the ice. Tying the ends shut to keep it contained, he brought it quickly back to his Agent's side where he knelt back down and very carefully placed the homemade icepack on the worst of the bruising and swelling. He figured if anything, it might slow the bleeding down somewhat if the suspected internal bleeding held true. He also thought that the ice may help with the inflammation and the pain as long as he only kept in on for no more than 10 minutes. Tony hadn't even budged, groaned or winced at the action and at this point, Gibbs wasn't sure if that was a blessing – or a curse.

He looked down at his own watch, wondering just how much time they had to get him medical help, before it was too late.

Just then, Vance returned from the cockpit, his own oxygen mask had been replaced by the handkerchief he had used to clean up his bloodied nose. He didn't look as bad now but he was still not using his hand much, leading Gibbs to deduce that his wrist was broken, or hopefully only sprained. "How's he doin' Gibbs?" was the first question he asked much to Gibbs' surprise.

"Not good. How close are we to landing Leon? I don't know how much longer he can hold out."

"Well, they are doing their best but, I'm sorry – you're not going to want to hear this." Vance forewarned him. "There's a problem. It's about the landing."

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**I'm SORRY!! I really can't help it – I think I need to go to "Cliffhanger's Anonymous" or something!! The first step is admitting you have a problem – I just don't know what the second step is. hee NOTE: The next chapter will have more from Israel (Mossad) as well - since this chapter did not.**_


	8. The Flight From Hell

_**A/N - Sorry for late update, I lost my Internet for a few days to to no money to pay the bill! I have to find a new job soon! Anyhoo here is the long awaited update and I really love how great you all are to review so please keep them coming! :-) Thank you!!**_

_**Previously One The Long Flight Home:**_

_Just then, Vance returned from the cockpit, his own oxygen mask had been replaced by the handkerchief he had used to clean up his bloodied nose. He didn't look as bad now but he was still not using his hand much, leading Gibbs to deduce that his wrist was broken, or hopefully only sprained. "How's he doin' Gibbs?" was the first question he asked much to Gibbs' surprise._

"_Not good. How close are we to landing Leon? I don't know how much longer he can hold out."_

"_Well, they are doing their best but, I'm sorry – you're not going to want to hear this." Vance forewarned him. "There's a problem. It's about the landing_."

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis**__~ncis~ncis~ncis__~ncis~ncis~ncis__~ncis~ncis~ncis__~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter VIII**_

"There's a problem with the landing." Leon had said.

"Dammit! What?!! Now what the hell else was done to sabotage this damn plane?!!" Gibbs hollered, having been taken by surprise with Vance's serious announcement.

"According to the pilots, there is a new issue that is preventing the landing gear from being dropped into position for the landing. They said that the problem could either have been caused by damage sustained during the two earlier incidents – or it may very well be part of the sabotage meant to make sure we don't survive this flight from hell.

But right now they are trying to activate some back up systems that are in always place in the event the landing gear won't drop. He said not to worry too much just yet and that the airport is going to place foam on the runway. It might end up that they have to land the plane without the landing gear in place – hence the foam. The foam will minimize any fire that starts up from sparks of skidding down th-"

"I get the picture Lee-on!" Gibbs barked, not wanting to think too much about that possible scenario.

There were no words that could describe the thoughts that were running rampant through his mind. He looked down at Tony, assessing his pale face that at the moment, actually looked quite peaceful as though the younger man were merely sleeping. Finally he found his voice and began to formulate a plan of attack of their own.

"Okay well, first thing's first – I know that pilots are trained to land with or without the landing gear, but if it's the later, then it's going to be a rough landing to say the least! I need you to help me find a way to get Tony secured in case we do end up landing hard since we probably don't have a lot of time. I don't know how we are going to do that without forcing him into a chair and there's no way _that's_ gonna happen!"

Leon started walking around, looking for something to use. Typically these types of cargo planes were well equipped with a wide array of supplies for almost any military situation since the planes were used frequently to rescue soldiers that were injured in the field, and other similar missions. Finally he found what he was searching for.

Gibbs looked up to see Vance walking towards him carrying a fairly large rectangular contraption that looked to be made of reinforced aluminum, he grunted in pain as he bumped against his injured, possibly broken, wrist.

"Oww damn! Here." he said handing it to Gibbs with his one good hand. "This ought to do the job – it's a portable stretcher. I knew they had to have one because I've had the unfortunate pleasure of being placed on one of these uncomfortable things back in my military days, in fact, I was rescued by a plane identical to this one!"

Gibbs knew bits and pieces of Vance's background, but hearing things like that made the Director seem like more of a human being than he sometimes came across, just as it did to see him injured - so he wasn't some kind of alien after all - those were the absurd rumors floating around NCIS mainly due to the Director's non-smiling and impersonal personality. "Great, thanks - let's get him on it and them we can find some straps to secure the stretcher to something to keep it from sliding around."

But then Gibbs shot up from his position on the floor and started rooting around in the same area that Vance had located the stretcher. Reaching into a thin cubby hole he pulled out a back board.

He wasted no time in getting the board positioned next to Tony. "Okay Leon, we need to use this because I'm no Doctor and I don't know much about spleens, but I suspect that even causing Tony's body to bend even slightly, could easily cause that damn rib to press further into his spleen – and that's all we need to have happen right now!"

Leon nodded his understanding while Gibbs moved up to grab Tony underneath his arms. Vance quickly followed suit but with only one useable arm he had to be creative, so he scoped his good arm underneath Tony's feet so he could help life them slightly and help Gibbs slide the unconscious man onto the backboard. He had to pull all of his strength in order to successfully complete the task and to make sure he didn't drop the Agent's feet and jar his fragile spleen.

"On three" Gibbs instructed, "we are just going to slide him over onto the board and then we can lift it and place him inside the stretcher."

_**Israel – Just Outside Director David's Office at Mossad Headquarters . . .**_

After standing in Director David's office for a few more minute following the Director's departure, Amit Hadar finally shook his mind free of the shocking admissions he had just been privy to. He stood in stunned silence letting the words sink in. The Director had taken his personal vendetta to a more dangerous level than Amit ever thought he would dare to go. But Amit has 2 Daughters so at the same time, he could also understand the man's need to protect his own Daughter and he knew he may someday be faced with a similar situation in his own life so who was he to really judge.

But what he realized bothered him the most was the fact that RIVKIN had been the most dangerous threat to Ziva, he had been out of control and everyone knew it. Everyone but Ziva since she had purposely been kept out of the loop. Amit knew that the only threat that Tony DiNozzo possessed was in making the Director fear that the suave man would take his Daughter away from him forever if he was allowed the chance to tell Ziva of his own true feelings for her – and to Eli, that was a bigger threat than if Tony had planned to full out _murder _his Daughter. Amit had been able to easily read the Special Agent who stupidly wore his heart on his sleeve. If he had been trained like the Mossad were, he would not make such foolish feelings so obvious to all around. If Tony had been informed of this, he would have been better able to understand how Ziva was able to keep her own emotions and feelings so perfectly hidden away from everyone around her. She had been raised and trained to do so.

He let his mind think of how the cargo plane was faring right now, knowing that by now they had experienced the Engine losses and he felt a pang of guilt and worry and actually said a silent prayer for the safety of everyone on board.

As he finally made his way out of the office and headed down the hallway, he was still somewhat dazed from the bizzare conversation from just moments ago. Then as he turned right at the next corner just a few feet away from the door – he was caught off guard when his path was blocked by a petite yet amazingly strong arm that shot out and caught him across his chest. His eyes looked slightly downward and he found himself looking right into a pair of angry brown eyes.

"Ziva! To what do I owe the honor of this impromptu meeting?" he asked while acting like he hadn't been startled by her sudden presence. Usually he could sense when someone was near him or hiding up ahead, but all of Mossad knew that Ziva had the uncanny ability to sneak up on associates and criminals alike, even ones with the most trained ear.

"Hadar, what were you discussing with my Father?!" she demanded.

"Ziva, you startled me! Nothi- I . . .we . . .it's none of your damn business!" he responded, finally snapping back to his senses. "It was a _private_ conversation Ziva – and not one that I care to discuss with you!"

Within the flash of a second, there was suddenly a long, extremely sharp knife held to his throat as Ziva had pushed him further against the wall with her forearm pressing tightly across his windpipe. "Well that's too damn bad!" she spat out, "Because I already heard a very large portion of that – _discussion_!" she added. He hadn't been aware that she had approached the door to her Father's office, hoping to give him a piece of her mind – angry and hurt that Gibbs had chosen Tony over her, yet knowing why he did. She had stopped just outside the door upon hearing raised voices of her Father and Hadar – catching just the last couple of minutes but hearing enough to cause her to worry.

"Zz-eev-ah," he barely squeaked out her name as the pressure on his neck was preventing him from breathing or speaking. Ziva loosened her grip just enough to allow him to talk.

Sucking in a little more air he continued, "I - he . . . uh Ziva your Father is out of control plain and simple and we are powerless to stop him!"

"Is it true then?! DID my Father order you to assist in sabotaging that cargo plane that my team is on?!"

He paused as he struggled against her newly tightened hold.

"ANSWER ME DAMMIT! IS my team in danger - right now?!!" she pressed the edge of the blade in just enough to draw blood, but close enough to his jugular vein that he stopped moving all together, including breathing, afraid that any movement could cause her to slip and end his life right there.

"Listen AMIT, I am not going to kill you but only IF you agree to help me find out what's going on and find out how that flight is going – or IF it is even still going at all! If my Father truly is out of control then I am going to need your help if we are to stop him before he does anything else! Are you WITH ME?!" She loosened her hold once again to allow him to speak.

He answered after taking a couple of short breaths, pausing to catch his breath again every couple words "Yes yes of . . . course I am Ziva! You have known me for . . . years and have I not always been against the . . . killing of innocent people?!" his breathing now getting back to normal. "I feel that your friends did nothing wrong and . . . they do not deserve the things Eli is doing to bring them harm. He said he did nothing that would kill them . . . but I just can't know that for sure."

"How do I know I can trust you?! You could go after me the second I let you go, or you could go straight to my Father and inform him that I know.

"I don't know how I can convince you that I am on your side Ziva. I know you are mad that I didn't inform you of Rivkin's becoming rogue and I am sorry about that now. I also found your American friends to be quite likable and I do not want to see harm come of them any more than _you_ do."

Ziva could tell when someone was lying and as she drilled her eyes deeply into his as he spoke, she knew he spoke the truth. She instantly released him and stepped back – then reaching up she pulled the bandanna that she had been wearing as a du-rag to keep her hair off her face, and handed it to him to stem the blood that was slowly trickling from the knife prick.

"Thank you, I guess." he said after rembering she had actually _caused_ the wound. "So now what?"

"Come on, we need to check on that plane – do you know the flight number?" she said as she headed down the hall with him right behind her both hoping not to run into the Director on their way.

_**Meanwhile Back On Board The Flight From Hell . . .**_

Within minutes they had the unconscious Tony settled onto the stretcher which they had successfully strapped securely to nearby seat legs that were bolted into the floor of the plane. There was no way he would be sliding so much as an inch when they landed, not unless the landing was a complete catastrophe and in that situation – _**none **_of them would be okay.

Then after removing the ice pack from Tony's abdomen since he knew ice was only helpful if used in 15 minute increments, Gibbs grabbed the nearby phone and dialed a number.

"Agent McGee" came the strong voice on the other end.

"McGee – I need you to listen to me and don't interrupt – I don't have a lot of time to brief you and this is of an urgent nature!"

McGee naturally remained silent, grabbing a nearby pen and paper since at this late time of the day in DC, he was already at home – not the office.

"I am on the plane coming back from Tel Aviv with the Director and Tony. Tony's sick but I don't have time to explain – talk to Ducky about it later and he can fill you in. But aside from Tony's injuries it appears that someone has tampered with various parts of the plane prior to our departure. This has resulted in the loss of two of the plane's four engines!"

McGee spoke without thinking, ignoring his bosses' order not to talk, "Boss, did Mossad do this?! And, you never mentioned Ziva – isn't she with you?"

"MCGEE – what did I say about not interrupting?! You hard of hearing all of a sudden?!"

"Oh, uh no Boss – sorry. Shutting up now."

"Good – First, you need to book the next flight to the Naval Academy airstrip which is where we will be landing, I am going to need your help here whether we make it through this landing or not. I need you to bring Abby and Ducky too, but he very well may have already booked his flight just to be there to help with Tony. You can find out when you ask him to brief you on Tony's condition."

McGee felt as though all of his breath had been sucked right out of his lungs upon hearing his bosses' words – both about Tony and about the risky landing. '_What would he do if he lost the most critical people on the team?!_' he couldn't help but ponder.

"But before you head to the Airport I need you to start gathering some Intel on the Mossad Officers that fall directly under Director David's supervision. I also want to know _everything_ about each person employed at the Military Air Field in Tel-Aviv, the one where we landed which is the closest in proximity to David's main Headquarters. I want to know names, addresses, criminal records - **hell** their shoe size if you think it's relevant!!

You are not going to have a lot of time to get all of that done by yourself McGee so grab Abby to help and you have Director Vance's and my permission to utilize any and all agents from other teams to pull all of that together. How ever many people you need to get all of all that done – just make it happen!

If we make it out of this I will call you as soon as we are able to, we need to get Tony to a Hospital fast so we are attempting to land in Annapolis at the Naval Academy. There are already emergency vehicles including an ambulance waiting on site for our arrival and well, I guess you will know when you are close to landing – just how our landing went. "

"Now if we don't make it through this landing – do not – I repeat, DO NOT stop investigating or you will lose precious time. Start with the hangar where this plane was housed and maintained last before we took off in it. Look up flight number Charlie Delta 77319 Zebra – and any maintenance personnel who had any contact with this cargo plane at any time over the past week. Then you need to look towards all of Mossad – starting with Director Eli. Now that's all I have time for so, get moving!"

"Uh okay Boss yeah right away. And Boss - good luck." McGee added, his voice almost giving away his shock, nervousness and fear as he ran to pack a few things so he could head directly to the Airport straight from NCIS. He said a silent prayer for flight CD77319Z and all of the people inside.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_A/N - Spleen facts below. Also I wanted to keep going but decided to get you at least this update since I am so overdue. Then I am still going to keep focusing on just THIS story so I can update this on again before I do any other story updates. This one is still the most fun to write anyway! **I hope to post Ch IX in a day or two.**_

_**Facts About Spleen Injury . . .**__  
~ __**Causes: **__The spleen is the most commonly injured organ in __**blunt abdominal trauma.**__ Hypotension from hemorrhage is the most common presenting finding.  
~ __**Clinical Findings: **__The injury should be suspected when the 9-10th ribs on the left are fractured, or when left upper quadrant tenderness and tachycardia are present. Commonly the patient complains of pain in the left shoulder — but this is usually not present for an hour or two. Peritoneal signs such as rebound sensitivity and guarding will be delayed until the blood has had time to cause local irritation of the peritoneum.  
~ __**Diagnosis:**__ Any patient with tachycardia or hypotension and left upper quadrant tenderness is assumed to have a ruptured spleen until proven otherwise. Establish the diagnosis by peritoneal lavage in patients with evidence of significant hemorrhage, or by CT scanning in those who are stable.  
~__** Treatment: **__Small lacerations may be observed in the hospital without repair. Larger lacerations may be treated with oversewing, or by splenectomy._


	9. Disaster!

_**A/N -I am working hard to get updates done since I have to take advantage of the few moments I have available to write! But I am with you in your eagerness to see what happens next, I never know for sure what i am going to write until I start going - it just comes to me somehow and I am enjoying this one! I hope you all still are as well!!**_

_**Last Time One The Long Flight Home . . .**_

"_Now if we don't make it through this landing – do not – I repeat, DO NOT stop investigating or you will lose precious time. Start with the Hangar where this plane was housed and maintained last before we took off in it. Look up flight number Charlie Delta 77319 Zebra – and any maintenance personnel who had any contact with this cargo plane at any time over the past week. Then you need to look towards all of Mossad – starting with Director Eli. Now that's all I have time for so, get moving!"_

"_Uh okay Boss yeah right away. And Boss - good luck." McGee added, his voice almost giving away his shock, nervousness and fear as he ran to pack a few things so he could head directly to the Airport straight from NCIS. He said a silent prayer for flight CD77319Z and all of the people inside._

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter IX**_

_**On Board Flight CD77319Z – Circling the Sky Above Annapolis . . .**_

As Gibbs was buckling himself into the seat nearest the still unconscious Tony, Vance was heading towards them after having gone to get a sit rep from the Pilots.

"Well?" Gibbs asked him immediately.

"They are going to try one more thing to get the emergency system to release the landing gear. If they can't then it look-"

Both men went completely silent as they suddenly heard the obvious sound of the plane's wheels as they finally dropped into place – proving that whatever measures the Pilots had just tried, had been successful. "Thank God!" Vance was the first to speak as he felt rejuvenated with the relief of knowing they would not have to go through the extremely risky and rough landing with out the gear in place.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile to signal his own relief since he knew Tony would most likely not make it if they had to land the plane bare bottom so to speak. His relief was short lived as the Pilots took advantage of the rarely used intercom system to make a quick announcement.

"I am sure you all knew what that sound was but I do have to warn you that the landing gear may still be somewhat compromised due to damage. It didn't sound like it locked into place as firmly as it should have and trust me, years of flying has allowed me to be able to detect even the slightest change in any of the usual sounds.

We will handle landing as smoothly and cautiously as we possible can but once I give you the signal, you will still need to resume the crash position as a precaution. We are going to attempt to land in about 5 minutes, we are just waiting for the all clear as they are clearing the runway area of any other nearby planes. God bless us all." he added the latter part because he was a devout Catholic and he found prayer to be both soothing and helpful when he was faced with risky landings.

Gibbs and Vance exchanged silent looks of concern and disappointment – their earlier burst of hope somewhat faltering now. Both men tried to keep their hope alive no matter how slight it had become.

Gibbs looked down to check on Tony once more before landing. He could see some blood leaking through the layers of gauze on his head, but not enough to worry about since the cut he had sustained was not very long, it was deep but still not anything to worry about. He was starting to sleep a little more restlessly as the earlier injection of Morphine began to abate. Gibbs just hoped it kept him out though the upcoming landing.

Neither Gibbs nor Vance spoke again as they waited for the Pilot's announcement that they would be landing.

_**Back at NCIS . . **._

Abby was in her lab talking out loud to her many hi-tech machines as she processed evidence for some of the other teams at NCIS. Gibbs team would always be her favorite but when it came to doing her job, she had to treat all evidence and every team the same in that regard. She turned her head upon hearing the telltale sound of the sliding door to the lab, announcing someone's arrival.

"McGee! Ducky! Gosh I've missed you guys, it's been like – 3 hours since I have spoken to anyone on Team Gibbs! And you two are right here!! There is no excuse, you know I get lonely if no one even bothers to-"

"Abby!" Tim spoke up and interrupted her ramble – knowing that Abby could go on for at least another 3-5 minutes with just one endless stream of words. "Sorry to cut you off but this is important!" he explained.

"What? What is it McGee?! You never look that serious unless something bad has happened! Oh my gosh is it Gibbs? Did something happen to Gibbs?! Oh no - what would we do without Gibbs?! I mean, we already had to get by without him once when he took off to Mexico and all but, we all kinda knew he would be coming back. I mean how could he resist- oh, sorry Timmy!! I ramble when I get nervous. Just tell me what it is and get it over with." she said as she grabber her nearby hippo Bert and quickly sat down on the nearest stool, hugging the noisy animal closely to her chest.

"Abigail, you must calm down." Ducky insisted, "It's not healthy to get so riled up my dear girl."

"Abbs – everything is fine, well sort of. Gibbs called me and he needs us all to fly to Annapolis as soon as possible. But there is someone who is hurt but he's holding his own so I need you to try to stay calm -" his words were cut off as Abby took off on another verbal rampage.

"Ohmygosh-ohmygosh! Who Timmy tell me WHO?!! It's Tony again isn't it?! I know it is – cuz it's always him! Vance should never have made him go on that really long trip when he is still healing from that fight!! What is the-"

"Abby you need to shut up and let me finish dammit! We don't have time for this." McGee's own stress caused by the pressure of being in charge at a critical time when he did not want to let down his boss, but that stress was combined with worry about Tony and the unstable plane that he and Gibbs were on – it all got the best of him as he reacted in a way that was as unnatural for McGee, as _smiling _was for Gibbs.

"Sorry Abbs, I'm sorry – I just – we . . . we have to get some work done before we leave so we don't have time for any extra – _anything_. Can you forgive me?" he asked her with all the sincerity he could muster.

"You know Gibbs would headslap you a good one for apologizing?" she said, smiling to make sure he knew she accepted it and was shutting up.

"Thanks. Now I brought Ducky down here because Gibbs already filled him in on some things and Gibbs asked me to garner both of you to help with some investigative research that he needs us to do and bring with us when we meet them in Annapolis. Gibbs didn't tell me what is going on with Tony, he just said I should have Ducky explain so to save time, I wanted him to just fill us in together so we can get started on the list of things Gibbs needs us to do." he stopped and turned to Ducky.''

Ducky realized that was his cue so he brought them up to speed.

"I received a call from Gibbs from the satellite phone they had on the plane. It turns out that some of the injuries that Tony sustained during his altercation with Michael Rivkin, had somehow been aggravated to the point where I believe his spleen may have encountered a small tear. The concern is that the flight that has been somewhat rough according to Jethro, if severe enough it could cause the tear to become larger and therefore more life threatening. But they do have an ambulance on stand by that will be ready and waiting to rush him to the nearest Medical Center.

Now I have already placed a call to a former associate of mine whom is now a top Trauma Surgeon at that very Hospital. He said he would be on site and awaiting the arrival of the ambulance. Tony will be in very good hands."

Abby's eyes filled with too many tears for her large eyes to contain, as the overflow finally rolled down her cheeks taking some of her thick black mascara along for the ride. She didn't let it deter her from what needed to be done, in fact if anything it had only propelled her into action.

"Okay then teammates, we have a fallen comrade to get to so let's get moving and do what needs to be done so we can get on a flight sooner rather than later!" she commanded as she slid immediately into professional work mode, rising from her seat she quickly set Bert down on the stool and turned to await further instructions from McGee.

"Okay McGee – what do you need me to do!"

_**Flight CD77319Z – As it Begins to Descend Towards the Runway . . .**_

The announcement they had been waiting for came just 5 minutes after the Pilot's last announcement.

"Okay all, we have received the all clear to go ahead and land this bird so, nows the time to assume the position as they say." he uttered, trying to keep things light since panic and worry never helped anything.

As the plane approached the long runway, getting closer and closer, the Pilot made a quick sign of the cross as he said one last prayer for a safe landing.

The tires of the massive plane got closer and closer to their final destination, a thin layer of foam covered the main path of the runway making it deceptively appear to be almost _cushioned _with the thick, white substance – as if landing on it would be as soft as laying on a thick pillow top mattress. Unfortunately, he knew that was _not_ going to be the case.

The Pilots allowed the tires to briefly touch the runway, that was a normal part of beginning to land but in this case it was also to test the stability of the landing gear as they bounced lightly once, then twice, but then on the third touch down onto the hard surface and still going at an extremely high rate of speed – there was a loud CRAACCKK that could be heard for miles as the landing gear suddenly collapsed having been unable to lock firmly into place as it gave into the damage it had received during the earlier explosion that had weakened it's integrity.

The gear completely crumbled under the massive weight of the cargo plane sending the plane down hard onto the runway with massive sparks flying in every direction as the metal parts of the broken gear, and the bottom of the plane itself, hit with enough impact to severely jar everyone inside!

Emergency vehicles started moving slowly, Fire Engines ready to descend upon the plane at every angle once it finally slid to a stop – though no one knowing how far it would go before it finally came to a stop, or what shape it would be in when it did! There were two ambulances ready to pounce as well, having already been informed of the critical patient inside the potential death trap.

Both the Pilot and the Co-Pilot cussed simultaneously upon realizing what had transpired. They were sweating from exertion as they fought to manually control the nearly out of control plane as it wobbled and skidded forward with the nose of the plane turning slightly right and then back towards the left. With the landing gear rendered useless they now had to rely on other, less ideal ways to slow the plane down.

The first action was to utilize the many flaps the plane had including what were referred to as _'spoilers' _that were typically used in conjunction with the wheel brakes. The Pilots began to flip switches frantically to maneuver the flaps and spoilers into various positions in order to alter the airflow and hence lessen the speed with which they were hurtling down the long runway. Another means to the safe end they were hoping to achieve was to activate the reverse thrust and once the plane had finally begun to slow to a much slower estimated speed, they would kill the power on the only two remaining engines that were still running – shutting them off prematurely would compromise the plane's trajectory and could be catastrophic to say the least!

Even with all they had accomplished so far, it seemed as though time stood still while they continued to slide and fight to keep the plan from turning and then even worse, **rolling **which could happen in the blink of an eye at any point during the ultra dramatic landing.

In the passenger and cargo section of the plane where Vance, Gibbs and Tony were housed, Gibbs and Leon assumed the crash positions and held on tightly as they felt the initial touch down onto the runway, it seemed normal enough so far but they continued to unknowingly hold their breath as they felt the second 'bounce' that was slightly rougher than the first. Everything had seemed to be proceeding nicely thus far while only a little bit rougher than a normal landing.

But that was until they felt the third and most distinct touch down that was significantly harder than the first two, the jarring impact was immediately followed by the loudest cracking noise like nothing they had ever heard before! They could feel the impact of the wheels collapsing almost directly beneath them as their bodies were heaved forward to the point that the seat harnesses threatened to cut into their skin right through their clothing. Then just as quickly they were thrown backwards against the backs of their seats, their necks being subjected to enough of a jolt to leave them both with a bad case of whiplash for certain. They continued to brace themselves as best they could, as they continued to be tossed in almost every other direction as the plane careened and slid from left to right struggling to right itself without rolling. Gibbs kept trying to check on his now semi-unconscious agent, concerned by the intense groans of pain that were escaping Tony's lips as the trauma of being shaken around like leaves in a wind storm, managed to rattle his stretcher and aggravate his broken ribs and arm – as well as his throbbing head - basically forcing him back to consciousness.

Both men could hear numerous items and parts of the plane that had been shaken free from the severe impact, some of the cabinets had been thrown open as their latches drastically shifted due most likely to the shocking collision of the plane's bare bottom as it struck the concrete runway hard! Some of the many reinforced seams throughout the massive plane began to moan from the added strain that threatened to pull them apart, compromised from the forced expansion and retraction of the outer hull of the plane as it fought to resist the urge to pull itself apart.

Vance was so busy praying for his own life, begging to survive and to be allowed to see his family once again, that he didn't even notice as Gibbs began to release his own seat harnesses which would essentially put him in severe jeopardy of being hurt or worse – killed – if the plane were to suddenly roll and begin tossing him about the plane like the ice inside a martini shaker.

But as soon as Gibbs had noticed the various items and even parts of the plane that had begun falling from seemingly every angle of the plane, he knew that it was up to him to shield his Senior Field Agent since Tony had been completely exposed to every falling danger around them since he hadn't been able to assume the semi-protective crash position like the others had.

Jethro, without giving the slightest amount of thought to his own wellbeing, had quickly freed himself and then threw himself down to cover Tony's prone body with his own as cautiously as he could so as not to jar the stretcher – or Tony.

Smoke was starting to fill the cabin for the second time during the endless flight, caused after the sparks beneath the plane had turned into full out flames as though the fire suppressant foam retardant consisted of nothing more than shaving cream!

Knowing that he would be of no help to Tony whatsoever, if he were to become thrown off of his post as a literal body guard, Gibbs took one of his arms and grabbed one of the nearby harness straps that was still dangling down from his seat, he then proceeded to wrap the thick strap around and around his forearm to give him something to hold onto while they continued to be thrashed around. He then took a second to assess his agent looking for any sign that he was going further down hill. He was relieved to see that Tony looked roughly the same as he had when they first got him onto the stretcher. Though his eyes were only barely starting to blink as he was still fighting his way back towards consciousness - the sounds of the screeching and tearing metal beneath them was ear shattering in it's volume – almost echoing throughout the nearly silent plane as everyone still held their breaths periodically, not knowing how this was going to end.

Finally breaking the disturbing echo, distress calls could now be heard from the direction of the cockpit as the Co-Pilot started to yell every procedure out loud for the flight tower to hear through their open frequency. He ran through each and every course of action that was part of the emergency protocol now that he was finally able to speak. Up to that point he and the Captain had been far too focused on controlling the precarious state of the plane but once they felt they had established some level of control, they knew they had to verbally announce each move since the infamous 'Black Box' would be used to determine what happened and the information would be used whether the ending result was a positive one, or a negative and deadly outcome.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_A/N - I chose this place to stop just to keep the suspense and excitement of the long awaited landing going! I hope that's okay with all of you. I will make every effort to get the next update done in the next day or two since I know I hate waiting for updates on my favorite stories when they get to this climatic stage. PLEASE KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING – THEY REALLY DO EXCITE AND INCENT ME TO UPDATE ASAP!! THANK YOU ALL :-)_

_**BnB**_


	10. Turn Of Events

_**OKAY ALL - I stayed up super late tonight to get this up for you so I hope you really like it! I will correct any tiny errors later like I always do if I missed any!**_

_**PLEASE PLEASE KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING - I LOVE YOU ALL FOR TAKING THE TIME - THEY MEAN A LOT TO ME!!**_

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Last Time On The Long Flight Home:**_

_Finally breaking the disturbing echo, distress calls could now be heard from the direction of the cockpit as the Co-Pilot started to yell every procedure out loud for the flight tower to hear through their open frequency. He ran through each and every course of action that was part of the emergency protocol now that he was finally able to speak. Up to that point he and the Captain had been far too focused on controlling the precarious state of the plane but once they felt they had established some level of control, they knew they had to verbally announce each move since the infamous 'Black Box' would be used to determine what happened and the information would be used whether the ending result was a positive one, or a negative and deadly outcome._

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter X**_

_**Israel – Inside The Tel-Aviv Airplane Hangar . . .**_

Ziva had barged into one of the break rooms after she and Amit Hadar had researched all of the employees whom had been working at the hangar for at least one month or longer, they didn't skip anyone from the owner of the hangar all the way down to the Janitor! Amit had at least some inside scoop to get them started seeing as he had been the one whom Eli had assigned to go check and see if his orders had been followed.

Eli had forced three of the maintenance staff to do his bidding by simply informing each of him that he could "_produce_" false charges against each one of them that would stand up in court and result in nothing short of a life sentence. It had been easy, the men were already somewhat shady so Eli probably hadn't even needed to be so dramatic with his threats. He also assured the men that they would be handsomely rewarded once he knew that the '_mission'_ had been successful.

"You WILL tell me exactly WHAT you did to that plane – and you will tell me NOW!" Ziva commanded one of the men who had the unfortunate pleasure of laying face down on the ground with the fired up brown haired beauty straddled on top of his back. He would have enjoyed it other than the fact that his right arm was pulled up so high and tightly behind him that he was sure it would snap if the pressure forcing his arm upward was even to be increased even a fraction!

"Aaauuuggghh I TOLD YOU!! You do not listen!!" he had the gall to fire back. "We just inserted a couple of delayed timing devices that were attached to the smallest amount of C4 that one can use and still get some kind of explosion – it was only meant to cause minimal damage. Any more C4 would have blown the damn engines clean off the plane!!" he explained again.

"WHO ordered you to do this?!! And DON'T even THINK of lying to me! I will snap your arm like a twig and use it to beat the rest of you to death – although I would - taake – myyy – TIME!!" she screamed into his ear as she laid her body flat against his entire backside. Amit just stood nearby smirking as he leaned against the door frame '_advising'_ anyone who arrived and expected to enter the break room, that it would be best for their health if they re-thought that decision.

"If I TELL you then I am as good as dead!! What's going on anyway?!" He grunted the words out through clenched teeth as sweat poured from his face from the pain of the awkward and unnatural position of his arm. Someone else has been digging into this from somewhere in America! Do you know anything . . . about . . . THAT?! Some- _**uugghh**_ - someone has been hacking into the computer database here among other things and the owner has put a special . . . tt-team in p-place to uncover the hacker's IP . . . IP addresses and . . . and to attempt to regain control over their firewalls and other security measures that had failed."

Ziva knew immediately who was looking into this – it had to be McGee, and possibly Abby. That made her feel relieved since that meant that Gibbs had figured out that something was going on – something sinister. That also meant he was still alive – or at least he was at the time he alerted McGee!

Ziva continued her 'interrogation' of the man, finding out what was done and what effect the sabotage was to have had on the plane and it's passengers. Eventually with the help of Amit, she was able to obtain the same information from one of the other two conspirators. Unfortunately the third man had fled as soon as he got wind that someone was not only digging into his past, but also his employment record at the airfield. He knew that somehow the cat had been let out of the bag so to speak and he didn't plan to hang around to find out how – or by whom.

Ziva and Amit's next step was to utilize some of their underground connections to dig a little deeper to see if there were any other maniacal orders placed by her Father to bring further harm - or '_warnings'_ as Eli preferred to call them – to Gibbs, Tony or anyone else from NCIS, and although they had already obtained the flight number as well as more details surrounding both the plane _and_ the crew, they still needed to find out _when_ it was to land in DC, assuming that it was still flying and still on course for DC per the original flight plan.

_**On Board Flight CD77319Z – Annapolis Naval Academy Airstrip . . .**_

Vance's eyes shot back open, having been squeezed shut in prayer, forced open when the nose of the plane took a more severe and sharp turn to the left, throwing all of them abruptly towards the right. The first thing that caught his attention through the now smoky haze in the air, was Gibbs body sprawled over Tony's stretcher, from his angle he couldn't see that Gibb's was not at all touching Tony but rather slightly arched over the stretcher just to protect Tony's abdomen wherein his delicate spleen wouldn't have stood a chance if any of the falling debris had landed on top of the horizontal man.

Leon's first thought was that Gibbs had been hurt, "JETHRO!" he yelled over the roaring and screeching going on all around them.

Gibbs turned his head towards the Director - "WHAT?!" he yelled back.

It only took a second for Leon to register what the man was doing, especially as he looked around the rest of the plane and noticed how many items were strewn from one end of the plane to the next. But before he could tell his Lead Agent never mind, he spun his head back towards the floor boards of the plane further back but not all the way into the tail section – flames were licking up from below as they fought their way inside the cabin.

Leon was unharnessed and up in a flash as he ran for the nearest fire extinguisher that every plan had, and started to spray the snow white foam all over the area trying to prevent them from eating away at the plane like moth to an old wool sweater! His adrenaline had taken over so his body to such a degree that he no longer registered the pain from his own minor injuries which included a most likely fractured wrist.

Gibbs was still on his knees and leaning halfway over Tony's stretcher but his head was turned toward the Director and alerting him to any other flare ups he detected so Vance could snuff them out – or at least keep them at bay for the time being. Gibbs was too focused on the task at hand to notice the intense green eyes that were looking up at him as the injured man on the floor was staring upwards, trying to figure out why his boss was leaning over his body like that, but too weak to ask. He sniffed at the air trying to figure out where he was and get his bearings. '_What was that smell?'_ He knew something was burning but what? _'Did someone burn Gibbs' boat?_' he thought, his mind completely muddled and misleading his brain to jump to the craziest conclusions. _'Is that why Bossman is laying over me? Is he __**that**__ distraught over losing his FIFTH precious sailboat that he can't get up?'. _It seemed alike a thousand thoughts were running through his mind at the same time.

"B-b-ossss?" Tony slurred the words out, his mouth and throat extremely dry and raspy to the point that he wasn't even quite sure if he had actually said the words out loud.

The next thing he started to register was nauseating dizziness and pain – indescribable pain. He coughed and blinked trying to shake off the queasy feeling and figure out where he was. He struggled to move but only found himself so weak that he felt like his limbs were suddenly made of lead, he realized that he actually felt somewhat trapped – though he could not figure out why.

'_Why can't I move?' _he thought . . . '_Why am I tied up like a damn Christmas turkey? _He nearly began to panic thinking he was being held captive or something – but one more look to his side he was reminded that Gibbs was with him and if he was with him, they would be fine.

Once Gibbs heard his Agent's weak voice calling out to him, everything else around him was instantly forgotten. He spun his head towards the voice, immediately regretting the move as his concussed brain struggling to keep up with the sudden movement of his head. Gibbs had to blink his eyes a few times until he finally got his skull and his brain working in unison again.

"TONY?!" he yelled his agent's name but the deafening sounds of the buckling plane competed against him, Gibbs was not sure whether to be relieved or disheartened at seeing his agent awake.

He knew that meant that the morphine had worn off for the most part and that would only mean that shortly, Tony's body was going to realize that too and start to make his injuries known once again, with a vengeance! He could only hope that this . . . never ending landing – would soon come to a happy conclusion and they could get him more medication for the pain sooner rather than later.

But first thing was first, they had to survive the here and now!

"**Tony**, " *_cough_*** just – lay – still!**" he shouted to him over the roar, the smoke was really getting thick – the visibility inside the plane was becoming worse and worse. Suddenly Gibbs was thrown off of his guard post over Tony as the nose of the plane swung drastically to the right, the strap that was wrapped around his arm however, thankfully did it's job for the most part and kept him from falling too far off to the side. At the same time he was thrown, he heard Vance stumble as the plane continued rocking and swaying causing the man to lose his footing and drop the extinguisher reaching out for anything to keep from falling all the way down.

Neither man had even noticed that some of the intense heat and some small flames had managed to burn through or melt and weaken part of the strapping that had held Tony's stretcher in place so when the plane's intense shift to the right that had caused Gibbs and Vance to stumble, now also caused the stretcher to spin partially sideways with the top end of the shallow basket that cocooned Tony to swing outwards toward the opposite side of the plane.

Upon seeing this, Gibbs acted fast and physically threw his own body down onto the floor landing on the right side of the moving stretcher to act as a roadblock and keeping him from continuing to spin around any further. It all happened so fast that Tony barely registered the movement, his eyes had long ago closed again due to the intense smoke that was now billowing from the floor.

"Aaauuugghh!"

Unfortunately in doing this, Gibbs felt one of his ribs crack from the force with which he landed as well as the awkward angle – causing him to unknowingly yell out in pain. He hadn't paid attention to_ how _he landed since all he really cared about was stopping his critically injured agent from receiving any more damage. He took a second to regain his bearings and wait the pain to ease up, his teeth were clenched and his eyes screwed shut – until he heard the raspy coughing to his left and realized the smoke was starting to really get to Tony.

It was getting to ALL of them but for Tony, even the act of coughing could cause have a disastrous effect on the tear in his spleen, not to mention his scarred lungs made him way more susceptible to smoke damage and lung infections caused by the acrid smoke and fumes.

Up in the cockpit the pilots were pleased to see that the plane's speed was finally decreasing little by little as the back up measures that were taken in this type of dangerous and not so ideal landing, were succeeding in doing their job. But then due to a shift in the winds outside, they felt the plane jerk out of their exhausted manual control as the tail end suddenly spun outward to the right at more of a sharp angle than the previous swaying so that now the plane was literally sliding sideways down what was left of the disappearing runway!

All of the numerous emergency personnel all watched wide eyed with mouth's hanging open as they helplessly witnessed the scene unfold before them like some bad disaster movie.

_Everyone_ held their breaths, including the pilots, as the plane was now in prime position to roll and tumble and in doing so, it would most likely be completely torn apart and then explode!

Then – just as quickly as the landing had turned sour, it was over! The plane's uncontrolled act of sliding sideways, ended up being a lifesaving move since it basically _blocked _the wind by providing a wider and flatter surface so the wind couldn't pass around it as easily as it could when it was heading nose-to-tail like an out of control missile. It seemed that everyone's silent prayers were answered as the screeching stopped and the plan _**finally **_came to rest!

All emergency vehicles received the go ahead from the tower over their radio's and immediately too off towards the plane - they still had to get those people to safety and fast!

The two pilots just sat there unmoving, breathing and thanking whomever they had each prayed to and allowing the adrenaline flowing within them to slowly ebb for really only a matter of seconds before they quickly started to unbuckle themselves and move to get everyone off the plane, knowing they could still be in danger from the massive amounts of leaking jet fuel that could still blow sky high.

In the rear section, Gibbs and Vance had both stabilized themselves as they too breathed in heavy sighs of relief, the silence around them now was as deafening as the screeching had been only minutes before since the decibel levels seemed to go from one extreme to the next. From ear shattering, to absolute stillness.

That was until Tony started really groaning as his pain souring back up to new heights! He was close to starting to thrash around as he tried to escape from the stabbing agony in his gut. Gibbs had already freed himself from the strap around his own arm and had been trying to find the oxygen masks they had used earlier in the flight, but he aborted that mission the second he heard and saw Tony's new frenzied state.

He kneeled back down near him and immediately pulled out his own sharp knife and cut through the straps that secured the stretcher to the legs of the seat, knowing that it would help the rescue team to extract Tony from the plane easier if they could just carry him out on the stretcher he was already affixed to. Vance had dropped to the ground since everyone knew smoke rose upwards and the lower you could stay, the better. He crawled over to assist Gibbs and knowing they would need to get the rear doors open or any other exit the could use.

Both Vance and Gibbs looked up through the thick haze of smoke towards the cockpit as they heard light coughing as the pilots were heading towards them. Both NCIS leaders wanted to shake their hands and thank them for the success of the frightful landing that they all knew they were lucky to be walking away from for the most part – battered and shaken – but alive! But they knew congratulations and praise would have to wait until they were free and clear of the smoldering and fuel leaking plane completely.

Then just when it seemed the worst was over, suddenly the Pilot, Lt. Andrew Carver whom had been walking ahead of his Co-Pilot, Lance Corporal Campbell, without any kind of warning whatsoever, plunged face first towards the floor, landing in front of his Co-Pilot in a lifeless heap – knocked out from behind by the butt of a 9mm semi-automatic pistol which was now aimed directly at the still frenzied and moaning – Tony.

Gibbs and Vance stopped dead in their tracks, completely taken aback by the unexpected act of violence they had just witnessed – both of them raised their hands up slightly as a signal that they understood the obvious warning.

"Hold on riiight there – no one's going anywhere!!"

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**Wow, I am so curious to see how you all like this chapter and the newest cliffie! I am only going to get 4 hrs of sleep tonight cuz I HAD to get this posted, I couldn't wait to share it with you all! Pls keep the reviews coming!! THANKS :-)**_


	11. Terror On The Runway

_**ATTN READERS: Here is a really long chapter for you! I am as excited about this chapter as I have been with any thus far! PLEASE keep sending me your thoughts in reviews because I love hearing what you think about the different directions I have been taking and such. As usual I will correct any missed type-o's and errors shortly but I get too eager to post!!**_

___~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Last Time On The Long Flight Home:**_

Then just when it seemed the worst was over, all of a sudden the Pilot, Lt. Andrew Carver whom had been walking ahead of his Co-Pilot, Lance Corporal Campbell, without any kind of warning whatsoever, suddenly plunged face first towards the floor, landing in front of his Co-Pilot in a lifeless heap – knocked out from behind by the butt of a 9mm semi-automatic pistol which was now aimed directly at the still frenzied and moaning – Tony.

Gibbs and Vance stopped dead in their tracks, completely taken aback by the unexpected act of violence they had just witnessed – both of them raised their hands up slightly as a signal that they understood the obvious warning.

"Hold on right there, both of you – no one's going anywhere!!"

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter XI**_

_**In The Air Above Maryland . . . En Route To Annapolis . . .**_

As Ducky, Abby and McGee were all impatient during the short flight, anxious to get to Annapolis to learn the fate of their friends . . . and Vance.

McGee and Abby still utilized every moment by continuing to work from their laptops to continue to pull together all of the information that Gibbs had asked them to gather. They had been amazed at the number of other Agents within NCIS who immediately got to work after McGee explained about the possible sabotage to an American Cargo Plane that was carrying Director Leon Vance, Lead Special Agent Gibbs and Senior Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. No one needed any further Intel before they dropped whatever cases they were already working on, and began to assist without question!

So with all of that added help the trio was able to leave NCIS within just 2 hours time so they could swing by Ducky's and then Abby's so they could each thrown a carry on bag of necessary toiletries and clothes together and race to the airport. Fortunately the flight from DC to Annapolis was fairly short so they would not have to wait too much longer to find out how their boss and Tony were doing. But they also had to stay focused on their task of pulling together all of the information that was still coming in from various Agent's that had volunteered to help Tim.

McGee had tried to look up information about flight CD77319Z but to no avail. McGee had even worked his charms on the gorgeous Flight Attendant, Samantha, whom had been flirting with him much to Abby's annoyance. He was able to get her to go in to ask the Pilot's if they could find out the ETA and well being of that flight, since he knew they had the ability to radio ahead to the Airfield's tower. But all they were told is that the tower was unable to give out that information due to a possible terrorist activity _'alert'. _

They didn't have to wait much longer and they would be landing and could obtain more information firsthand. '_Alert?? What kind of alert could they mean?'_ Tim anxiously pondered. Then about twenty minutes before they would have begun the descent to land, an announcement from the cockpit came over the intercom;

"Good evening everyone, this is your Captain speaking and I have the unfortunate honor of informing all of you that we will be unable to land at the Annapolis Airstrip as was our intended destination. Allow me to be the first to apologize for this inconvenience on behalf of our Airline, I'm afraid we are being told by the flight tower at the Annapolis Naval Academy Airfield, that we must alter our flight plans slightly. I'm sorry I do not have any information pertaining to why this sudden change is required, but regardless, they are diverting our flight so we will now be landing at the nearby Baltimore/Washington International Airport with an ETA of approximately 17 minutes.

I can assure you that we have more than enough fuel left with which to accommodate this unexpected flight plan alteration. I can also assure you there is no cause for concern, and since the new destination is only a matter of miles from our initial airfield, we will arrange for some supplemental transportation to get you to your intended destinations, courtesy of the Airline. Thank you and please just relax and enjoy the rest of your flight."

As most of the passengers started chattering to each other absorbing the new information and talking about how it would affect their individual plans and voicing their frustration through complaints and whining. McGee, Ducky and Abby all merely stared at each other in stunned and worried silence. '_What does that mean?' - _if someone could interpret facial expressions, that is what their fearful eyes would have been saying.

Before any one of them had found their own voice, Abby's eyes began to fill with tears as fast as their minds were racing.

"Nowww Abby, hold on – don't jump to conclusions." McGee whispered in a very hushed voice right next to Abby's ear, because if anyone around them were to overhear that they knew what was going on – all hell would break lose!

"I told you that Gibbs felt confident that they would land safely – and we should have known the airfield's Security and Safety board as well as the NTSB would have to immediately initiate an investigation into what happened to the plane's engines and . . . hopefully _why._ It was stupid of us to even think we would be able to land there! Okay?" he said the last word in the sweetest way possible to let her know he cared about her feelings.

Abby nodded as she quietly sniffled a couple of times, she knew her sweet McGee was right. Ducky reached across the aisle where he was seated, and lightly patted her free hand that was resting on the arm of her chair. Tim then excused himself to the restroom so as not to be overheard, where he then placed a call to Tony's old place of employment – the Baltimore PD, he knew that once he explained that they needed to get to Annapolis Naval Academy immediately – and told them it was regarding a seriously injured Anthony DiNozzo – their former Homicide Detective, that they would give them a police escort by chopper, since choppers did not require the runway for which to land. There was a nice rooftop landing pad on-site at the Naval Academy that they could easily utilize and it was also the fastest method of transportation they would find.

_**Israel . . .**_

Amit and Ziva had exhausted all of their resources and had still not come up with much more Intel about where the orders came from. They had been hoping to find someone who was either a witness to the fact that Eli David was behind this, or someone who would rat anyone and everyone out just to save their own skin. But Director David was good. He had either paid all of them off well – or his threats were more . . . _compelling _. . . than his Daughter's were.

Ziva felt occasional pangs of guilt over the fact that she was secretly trying to find proof of her Father's involvement. Proof that would mean the end of his career at Mossad – if not worse. The Mossad didn't mess around when it came to someone using the organization for their own personal vendetta's – Director or not!

She debated on flying to the US although she knew she wasn't welcome right now if she were to suddenly show up on either Gibbs' doorstep, or the NCIS bullpen. She knew they _**all **_needed time to heal . . . **and** to calm down.

Now the duo was headed back to the Airfield, after having gone all the way across town to _'interrogate'_ yet another slime bag suspected of being involved in obtaining the C4 and the timing devices that were used on the plane's engines and heaven knows where else they may have put them.. They had been successful in getting what they needed from the man, leaving him tied up and bloody, shaking in fear after they threatened to go after his family if he breathed a word about this little . . . meeting – to anyone!!

Ziva would never hurt someone's innocent family – but she needed everyone to think she would. It would be another 30 minutes before they arrived at the airfield, once there they would go directly to the flight tower that was not far from the hangar that had housed the cargo plane prior to take off. Their goal this time was to obtain information – _using whatever force necessary _– in regard to the status of flight CD77319Z. As angry as she still was at Tony, and now also at Gibbs for leaving her behind without so much as a second of thought, she also didn't want any harm to come to either one of them.

While Amit was driving the Hummer they had rented to get from place to place without being tracked by Eli since both of them would not put it past the corrupt Director to have placed tracking devices on their vehicles just to keep tabs on his more relevant operatives. Ziva sat in silent thought in the passenger seat, staring out the window but not actually looking at anything. Sure she had threatened Tony herself, including brandishing her fire arm and placing the cold business end of the weapon onto various parts of his body – mainly just to make him think that she just _might _pull the trigger.

But she also knew that nothing ever seemed to really 'scare' Tony. He really was fearless in every way – but she had always thought that to be a dangerous thing since he always seemed to throw himself into the most life threatening and precarious situations with absolutely no regard for his own safety and well being – including his most recent careless move in approaching Rivkin without any back up. The more she thought about it, _**that**_ was what she was _really_ mad about! Why hadn't she realized that before?

She continued to think back to the entire stressful incident, back then she had thought she was mad at Tony because he had been essentially responsible for taking the man with whom she thought she was falling in love with, away from her - permanently.

But, deep down she also knew that _prior _to Rivkin, she had secretly been falling for Tony. But she had kept her feelings to herself for over a year because she just wasn't sure how he felt about her. In hindsight it was during Tony's strained yet heartfelt relationship with Jeanne that made Ziva first take notice and see the heart of the man that up to that point, she had only known to be nothing more than a heartless clown with a fear of committed relationships. Then seeing how deeply in love and affected he had been throughout the entire courtship and crumble of his romance with the attractive Daughter of a murderous arm's Dealer – before Ziva even knew what was happening, she found she could not get her Partner off her mind, smiling like a lovestruck teen whenever she did think of him – hiding those feelings whenever he was near.

He had come over to her apartment to talk almost every night after the disastrous break up, his heart truly broken, they would watch movies together to get his mind off of it and their own friendship only grew even stronger. It took all of Ziva's Mossad trained willpower, not to kiss him whenever she hugged him to let him know he could drop his guard and talk about how he was feeling. She had so badly yearned for his touch and to run her own hands all over his tall frame, showing him without the use or words, just how much she cared about him and what he was going through. But having to refrain from doing so, and not being able to tell him how she felt - was worse than any form of torture she had ever endured in her abnormally torturous life with Mossad.

Rivkin's arrival had finally allowed Ziva the distraction she needed, she was now realizing that she hadn't been in love with Michael at all – she had merely fooled herself into believing that she had been. Why? Because it was easier than facing the fact that Tony didn't love her back.

Or so she thought.

It took several factors to finally make her finally begin to see the truth, now as she thought back to that fateful night. She could see now that Tony really _had_ gone to her apartment to check on her, to make sure she was safe – but also to ask her about Rivkin and tell her what he knew. Only to tragically end up killing her newest lover in the process.

Ziva knew Michael well enough to know that he would have _easily_ been able to kill Tony in just seconds on a slow day - and would have done so mercilessly if he hadn't been so inebriated that his own reflexes were significantly slower than usual.

Now that time had stepped between her conflicting emotions – allowing her mind to dissect the events without the clouding fog of those intense emotions – she could now see things as they truly must have been. Tony _had _killed him in self defense after all, she knew he would never lie to her – she also knew that she could not say the same about herself since she had essentially been lying to _him _by not divulging her . . ._ 'relationship'_ with Michael. Ziva knew firsthand that Rivkin was a mean drunk which made him even more dangerous if provoked after he had imbibed in too many drinks. He would surely have attacked Tony without a doubt, he would have had no choice but to fight back for his own survival – anyone would have done the same.

How could she have been so blind - and so . . . wrong?!

As they drew closer to the main large gates leading to the airfield, Ziva continued to berate herself for the unprofessional and careless way in which she had handled the whole thing. Tony did not deserve to have his own integrity and ethics questioned or doubted in any way. He would never have treated her in such a cruel manner – never! How could she repay him, make it up to him? Would she ever even get the chance? She realized in horror as she thought about him on that plane, exhausted and still injured from the fight, and heartbroken over her mistrust in him. She said a silent prayer that he would be alright, that she would have a chance to make things right no matter how long it took!

_**On Board Flight CD77319Z – Sitting Sideways Near The End Of The Runway . . .**_

"Hold on right there, both of you – no one's going **anywhere**!!"

Words could not describe the looks of complete shock that took over the faces of Gibbs and the Director as they absorbed the scene before them. Gibbs looked down to the ground to check on the fallen Pilot who now lay completely unconscious. Blood slowly trickling from the head wound that the striking pistol had left him with.

"Whoa now, hold on there." Gibbs finally said, "What do you want? What's going on here?!" he demanded.

The Co-Pilot whom had initially introduced himself as Lance Corporal Jefferson "Jeff" Cambell before the start of the flight, replied with more threats, "Look, I am in control now! You will do _**what **_I say – _**when**_ I say it and you will NOT speak until I tell you you can speak! Ya hear me?!!"

Both Vance and Gibbs simply nodded in reply not wanting to do anything at this point, to further jeopardize themselves and especially the even more defenseless – Tony.

"Now – I will have no qualms about putting a bullet in the head of your Agent here if you somuch as THINK about making any sudden movements. You are only to move when I SAY you can move! Now - listen up! One of you is going to comnunicate with the tower and give them my demands! If I so much as hear** any **kind of warning or signal – once again I assure you -you will be signing your Agent's death certificate by doing so."

Gibbs and Vance could hear the frantic calls coming from the radio in the cockpit, asking for a report of their condition. Jeff pulled out some plastic zip ties and threw them at Gibbs feet. "Now, pick those up and I want you to secure the Director here, to that seat over there, the one closest to the cockpit! DO IT – NOW!" he yelled after Gibbs didn't immediately move to do anything.

Within two to three minutes Gibbs had secured Vance's hands and feet tightly to the chair, the Co-Pilot watching him like a hawk to make sure he tightened the ties as far as they would go, without cutting off circulation. _'So much for faking it by leaving some of the ties loose enough to wriggle out of', _Gibbs thought. Now he would have to come up with another plan to take this man down!

Then as Gibbs stood back up having completed the task, before he could blink he watched in horror as the nervous Co-Pilot swung the butt of his weapon once again, this time impacting the side of Vance's head with a crack! Leon's head flew abruptly to the rightand then dropped instantly down to rest on his chest – unconscious but not bleeding. Before Gibbs could so much as react, he suddenly felt the cool tip of the gun as it was pressed into the side of his neck, "MOVE IT! Get up there in the cockpit! You are going to tell them you have a hostage situation and that subsequent demands will follow!"

In no time Gibbs had made his way into the cockpit, almost stumbling a couple of times as his own slight concussion demanded his attention. Each time he faltered, he felt the gun being pressed further into his flesh, almost to the point of pain, then finally after apparently making the already anxious criminal even more flustered and nervous, the man pulled a knife with a 4 inch blade, out of a sheath that had been concealed inside the waistband of his military issued trousers. He didn't trust this Gibbs character to not try to overtake him in order to protect the others.

'_Next time I fly anywhere,' _Gibbs silently promised himself, '_I am going to personally search everyone on board – flight crew included!' _Gibbs then seated himself in the Pilot's now vacant seat, purposely choosing that seat so he could try to keep an eye on Tony, or at least he could see _part _of the stretcher his unconscious Senior Field Agent resided in.

"So Campbell – if that's even your name - can you at least tell me _why_ you are doing this? Seeing as you are most likely going to kill all of us anyway?" Gibbs asked, ignoring the earlier warnings not to speak.

"No, I do not plan to kill you – I need you to come along with me as a security measure. Then, well I suppose you _are _right, then I probably _**will**_ have to kill you. Now shut up and tell them I want a car delivered outside the back doors of this plane, I want it backed up so the trunk will be facing the plane's doors. I want the trunk left wide open so I can see inside, I want the keys left in the ignition with the car still running. Tell them YOU are coming with me to ensure that no one tries anything funny!

Gibbs decided to buy some time, knowing that the flight crew would realize something was amiss and move that much faster to get to them. Campbell hadn't thought this through due to his own paranoid and frantic nature clouding his ability to do so. It was clear to Gibbs that the man was acting on pure adrenalin and fear, most likely something that had been building ever since the first explosion took the first engine down. It was quite possible that the man was an impostor - a plant from Mossad, meant to make sure that the sabotage of the plane was successful.

******

. . . Meanwhile in the rear of the plane, inside the basket type stretcher, the ailing man with the emerald eyes slowly regained consciousness and started to look around – trying hard to recall where he was. This time unlike before, he quickly recalled what was happening. He was on a plane and he was sick and hurting. His gut felt a fire deep within that was like nothing he had ever felt before!

In seconds his eyes had found the trussed up Director who was clearly unconscious and down for the count. '_But where was Gibbs?!' _he thought, becoming nearly frantic as he tried to get his sluggish and pain filled mind to focus – he had to find Gibbs, he could be in danger! Tony then started carefully and quietly releasing any straps that were still keeping him somewhat affixed to the stretcher. _'When the hell did I get put in this?'_ He thought, but then mentally head slapped himself - he could figure that out later!

Then using his one good arm, he held onto his stomach tightly as if the added pressure would somehow cease the painful burning in his gut. He listened carefully as he could now hear the voices coming from a few feet away, inside the cockpit. His mind kicking instantly into professional mode as he decided what his options were and look for the right time to make a move.

******

. . . "What were you assigned to do in the event that the explosives didn't do their job - huh? This smells like a warning to me, a warning perhaps from the Director of the Mossad? Am I right?" he asked, knowing he was going to make the man even more anxious and hence, more dangerous. But he had to stall, he had to find something in the cockpit that he could use to distract the now sweating operative before him, and then take him down!

"SHUT UP!! I told you **I** will ask the questions!! But I will give you this, you are right in that I am NOT the real Jefferson Campbell – the spineless wimp is now half way to hell thanks to me! That was **not** part of the plan just so you know! I wanted out, I knew that eventually Mossad would be the end of me, that Director David is known to have had many an operative killed in order to keep his corrupt activities forever shrouded in secrecy – NO witnesses at **any **cost!! I was not going to align myself with that same grave destiny – I found this flight to be my only means of escape – fleeing to another Country to start over and create a new identity."

Gibbs watched in silent awe, not expecting the man to rant and ramble on with such a detailed explanation of his own selfish mission.

"I simply befriended the real Lance Corporal Campbell at the hangar one day, then after he told me that he had yet to meet the Pilot with whom he was assigned to fly with – I saw my chance – my opportunity to escape was right there in front of me and roughly my same size. I couldn't have wished for things to work out more perfectly!! Then I eliminated the amateur Corporal and . . . well, _borrowed_ his identity. Now that is enough - you WILL do what I say and NOW!" Grabbing the radio he threw it at Gibbs, "Now TALK!!" he shouted.

Then he decided to inflict a harsher warning in order to get the stubborn Agent to do his bidding and stop wasting time! But, due to Gibbs concussed state of mind, he hadn't anticipated the upcoming move as the man suddenly plunged the razor sharp knife right into his right bicep, yanking it out just as quickly as he had thrust it in! The latest rogue Mossad operative then quickly flipped the knife around so the handle was tucked inside his closed fist with the sharp end facing the opposite direction, then brutally swinging the same fist and punching Gibbs with significant force, with a right hook to the side of his face. The move was clearly Mossad, confirming to a suffering Gibbs that his man was most likely NOT, Lance Corporal Campbell.

As Gibbs shook off the newly inflicted wounds and looked up, he was shocked by the sight of the villain in front of him as the evil killer's eyes suddenly widened as large as saucers, almost looking as though they could pop out of their sockets at any moment. His jaw dropped open in shock as blood started to trickle out from the corner of his mouth. His body fell forward, eyes still affixed open, eerily staring directly into Gibbs own surprised eyes as he finally spotted another knife that was now protruding from the back of the imposter's neck having been shoved inside all the way to the hilt!

Gibbs quickly looked up, shock and pain still evident on his own face – as he saw the man who had just single handedly removed their threat in the blink of an eye - Tony DiNozzo stood wobbling in the doorway of the cockpit his blank and staring eyes locking onto his bosses' for a moment before the rest of the adrenaline that propelled him into action, seemed to have drained from his body causing him to lose what little strength he had left in his legs and causing him to fall lifelessly backwards to the floor of the plane.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**STAY TUNED, I have more exciting stuff planned ahead!! PLEASE KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING!! **_


	12. Fear

_**This chapter is ALL Gibbs/Tony/Hurt/Comfort!! Enjoy! NOTE: I haven't even proofed this chapter ONCE so as usual I just want to get it posted before work so I will proof and fix later!!**_

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Last Time On The Long Flight Home:**_

_Gibbs quickly looked up, shock and pain still evident on his own face – as he saw the man who had just removed their threat in the blink of an eye - Tony DiNozzo stood wobbling in the doorway of the cockpit his eyes locking onto his bosses' for a moment before the rest of the adrenaline that propelled him into action, seemed to have drained from his body causing him to lose what little strength he had left in his legs and causing him to fall lifelessly backwards to the floor of the plane._

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter XII**_

_**Inside The Smoldering Cargo Plane . . .**_

Gibbs was shocked and relieved at the same time, once he absorbed the fact that his Agent, whom had been barely able to stand, had singlehandedly killed the latest threat to their well being. He quickly pushed the bloody corpse off of him as the man had fallen forward, landing partially on Gibb's lap. He instantly recognized the knife that was still protruding from the man's neck, as the one that came from Tony's fancy belt, hidden in the custom made buckle.

He then paused and turned back around to grab the radio that was hanging off of it's perch nearby knowing that he had to alert them of the situation. He pressed the button down on the side of the radio and yelled into the mouthpiece but coughing as he spoke from the still rising smoke, "This is ~ _cough_ Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS – the plane is now ~ _cough, cough_ ~ secure but we have a man in need of immediate medical attention up here – I will open the doors at the rear of the plane to allow for access."

Then Gibbs eyed one of the oxygen masks nearby that the flight crew would use as needed. Breathing deeply into it just once, helped him finish delivering his orders. "You better roll a Coroner's wagon too since we have discovered that the Co-Pilot on board was an impostor – he is now ~ _cough_ ~ deceased. " then as Gibbs stood and began to make his way out of the cockpit, he had to get to Tony who had just saved his life, but hopefully not at the high cost of his own. But he was temporarily detained from his intended destination when the voice of the dispatcher from the tower came back with a couple of critical questions.

"Sir?! Agent Gibbs?! This is Scott from the Tower - is everyone else all right on board Sir? Are there any other injured passengers or flight crew?" With all that had been going on INSIDE the plane, Gibbs hadn't noticed that every emergency vehicle that had been standing by, were already more than half way out to the plane. Fire Engines leading the pack since they could see smoldering flames still threatening to blow the plan sky high if they were allowed to get out of control.

"Hell Scotty, we all have one injury or another ~ _cough_ ~ just get at least one of those damn ambulances out here – NOW! We are also going to be dealing with some more severe smoke inhalation if I don't get that door open ~ _cough_ ~ now leave me the hell to it!!" Gibbs barked, he never did have patience for people keeping him from doing something that was far more urgent!

"WAIT! There is one more thing – I need you to make sure that a bomb unit is dispatched A.S.A.P! We have no way of knowing if there are any additional explosives planted on this plane." he had almost forgotten completely about that being that his mind was on getting to Tony and making sure he was still breathing!

Gibbs quickly scanned the cockpit for the levers that would release the rear doors of the plane, they were not the typical airplane doors that opened to one side, this plane's doors opened more like a jawbone where the top part raised upwards and the bottom portion lowered itself to the ground at the same time – also acting as a ramp to enter and exit the plane. He quickly maneuvered the levers until he could hear the obvious sounds of the tail section doors opening.

_**In Between The Cockpit & The Main Cabin . . .**_

The Pilot, Carver, rolled his throbbing head to the side, as he started to come around. The first sight his eyes landed on, was the unconscious man to his right whom he had recognized as passenger Tony DiNozzo. Tony, who was laying as still as death appeared to have fallen halfway on top of him. Just then he saw Agent Jethro Gibbs as he exited the cockpit, "Lieutenant Carver, are you alright? I am glad to see you coming around!" Gibbs told him.

"That makes three of us." came the weaker voice from the front seat of the cabin as Vance had also just come back into the world of consciousness.

"Carver, are you well enough to cut Vance free? I need to check on my Agent" Gibbs asked as he hauled the man up, moving slowly to allow him time for dizziness to subside. He then ran back towards the cockpit for a quick second and came out holding the sharp knife that the fake Co-Pilot had been yielding earlier before . . . before Tony had killed him. Tony!

Gibbs quickly turned away from the two newly conscious men and knelt down next to his agent just as Tony was also starting to move about, but the difference in his awakening was that he was mumbling something that was incoherent as he thrashed his head from side to side. Gibbs noticed the unbelievable amount of sweat covering Tony's pained and pale face while he quickly attempted to assess the rest of him, starting with his abdomen. But with Tony's jerking arm and head movements it made doing so, impossible. He was moaning loudly from pain which made Gibbs cringe at the thought of what further damage he could have unknowingly caused himself while selflessly saving them all.

Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Vance and Carver moving to stand on the other side of the man who was writhing in pain. "How can we help?" Lt. Carver asked him, while really seeing Tony for the first time since before take off, he was in absolute shock and awe over the drastic down turn in the man's appearance from then . . .to now.

"You can help me get him back onto the stretcher so they don't have to try bringing one up in here. Besides, I want to get him out of this smoke as soon as possible and we all know the normal protocol with this type of emergency situation – they do not allow any emergency personnel to come too close to the plane until all risk of fire is eliminated.

They could all hear the activity that was going on outside the plane as firefighters were aiming hoses at the remaining small flames and burning parts of the doomed plane. The ambulance and other emergency vehicles were ready and waiting - but were only allowed within 10 yards of the plane until the Fire Chief gave them the all clear.

Vance grabbed the backboard from inside the portable stretcher, knowing they would need to slide him onto that again, before lifting him and placing him onto the stretcher. "What the hell happened Jethro?! What is he doing out of this in the first place?" he asked as he got the backboard into position.

"I'll brief you on that later Leon, it happened while you were – napping." Gibbs teased him, unable to help poking fun at how useless the Director had been even though he couldn't have most likely done anything to prevent being tied up and knocked out. Adrenaline had kicked back into high gear for all three men as they completely forgot about their own aching heads and other injuries in order to focus on the man with far worse going on. They easily slid Tony onto the board but he was moving so much in trying to escape the excruciating pain deep in his gut – his eyes were half open but looked as though they weren't able to focus on anything most likely because of the pain and delirium that he still suffered from.

"G-Gib-bzzz" Tony murmured, while trying to curl himself up into a ball to protect and hold onto his stomach. "The p-pain bb-osss – it's . . . it's kil-lin . . . me! I . . . I can't tak-" his voice squeaked and q slightly as he spoke – as if he had to force the words out o

At which time Gibbs leaned in as close to Tony's ear as possible, whispering to him and promising him that pain relief and safety were just moments away, then adding his own more personal words of encouragement "Tony you hang in there – ya got that?! You are going to be fine but I need you to stay strong and . . . I know it's tough but I really need you to stay as still as possible while we get you lifted onto the stretcher. Can ya do that for me Tony?" Gibbs asked so kindly that if he were more coherent , Tony would have cringed. He didn't like 'Nice Gibbs' – nice Gibbs only meant bad things, such as when Kate died. It was also not a good sign when he used anyone's first name.

But thankfully Tony was too out of it to even make the connection that his boss was doing both of those things – using his first name, _and_ being nice.

The three men, still coughing from the smoke that seemed to be worse now that the fires were almost out. They stood up and together they lifted the stretcher in perfect unison while Tony forced himself to stop moving so much, gritting his teeth against each other in order to do so.

They arrived at the end of the ramp just off the back of the plane at the same time the EMT's were running towards them with at larger stretcher being wheeled between them. They had placed their medical tackle boxes on top of the gurney – boxes that contained life saving equipment and medications for emergency field triage.

Once they wheeled the gurney as close to the plane as they could, they removed their paraphernalia from on top and placed them on the ground. Then as they drew closer they could now see that the three men carrying the stretcher were looking more worse for ware with they own obvious injuries and all slightly shocky in appearance – either from the injuries, or possibly from the harrowing life threatening situations they had all just made it through.

The two EMT's, - Bryan and Ellis - moved in to take over the duty of carrying the stretcher so they could first of all relieve the tired looking men and second so they could then hoist the portable stretcher filled with a definitely far worse off patient of the group – onto the gurney. He was clearly the one they had been forewarned ab out. The one suspected of having internal injuries among other things.

Bryan was the lead so he yelled out an instruction, "Gentlemen, let my partner and I take over here, we can carry that now. Sorry but you three all look like you could fall over at any moment!"

"No." came the gruff response from Gibbs. He'd be damned if he would hand Tony over to these two young . . . kids, and risk them dropping or jarring him. "We got it, just hold that gurney still so we can place the stretcher on it." he instructed them as they got within 3 feet from the awaiting gurney, glancing down at Tony Gibbs could see his eyes screwed shut in pain. If any tears were coming out of his eyes from the devastating misery – you would never know since the sweat covering his fevered face, mixed with the grime from the settling thick black smoke.

"He needs something for the pain immediately, the shot of morphine we gave him hours ago worked well, but has worn off completely now. I suggest you get something ready for him while we get him situated." the young EMT's could tell by the man's demeanor that he meant business, they continued to listen as he then gave them a run down of his man's condition.

"He has a bleeding head wound and a concussion, he's highly feverish and his left arm's broken, his sling must've fallen to the wayside on the plane. Oh, and he had nothing to eat or drink since we were already forewarned of his need for surgery."

He obviously cared about the younger man but one would have to be blind not to see that the patient was suffering tremendously – and they knew more than anyone about the negative impact that level of pain actually had a on a patient's recovery if it wasn't controlled right away.

Ellis was already down rummaging through one of their containers of medical necessities – pulling out an IV kit along with some vials of Morphine. Once he stood up again with the items in his hands, he watched at the trio of men placed the agent's portable stretcher gently on top of the gurney that Bryan held steady having already locked it's wheels into place to help avoid movement. Seeing these tough as nails men lowering him down using all the care one would use if handling say, a newborn baby, was quite a sight.

Then the man whom had just alerted them to prepare the morphine, leaned closer to the patient and whispered quietly in his ear. "Tony, you did good. They are giving you something for the pain now so it won't be much longer before you will feel better – okay?" he then stared at the downed man looking for a sign that he had comprehended what he just said.

"Nn-kay b'ss" came the garbled response.

"Now Tony, I just gonna step away for a minute and let these men do their job to get you ready for transport. I'll be right here the whole time. You just keep doing what you're doing and hanging in there for me." the silver haired man added before stepping just 2-3 feet backwards.

The EMT's moved quickly, falling into their own well rehearsed routine of taking care of seriously injured victims and moving with a speed that even impressed the almighty Gibbs. Vance and the Pilot were already busy answering some preliminary questions about the incident after having been approached by the Chief of Security for the Airfield as well as two other medics whom had just arrived to help tend to the other, less seriously injured parties.

As Gibbs was watching the men as one of them inserted an IV needle into the top of Tony's hand, taping it in place. While the second man took a quick look at the head wound. The latter of the two turned to Gibbs, "Sir, we need to get him moving ASAP – his vital signs are . . . : he stopped because he knew better than to say anything negative within earshot of a patient. "Uh, well – they uh . . . could be better. We can clean his head wound and get some plasma going while en route to the Hospital."

Just then the man's words were nearly drowned out by the noisy sound of chopper blades as a Police Chopper flew overhead low enough to read Baltimore Police Department across the bottom. It appeared to be heading towards one of the rooftop helipad's. Gibbs was so wrapped up with worry for Tony, plus now feeling the pain from his own stab wound and head injuries – the adrenaline no longer hiding it, that he hadn't even caught onto the odd irony that the chopper above came from Tony's old stomping ground.

Gibbs was further distracted by the anger and determination that his head was all but spinning with, to get to the bottom of who had caused all of this havoc. He was also experiencing fear. An emotion that the tough as nails Team Leader rarely encountered, fear over losing another family member.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**PLEASE KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING!! I like to keep tabs on how you are liking the story and the directions I am taking it! THANKS!**_


	13. Emergency Transport

_**Author's note:**_ Sorry for the delay, it looks like I might lose my job this coming Monday, so I had to work like a dog to try to save it, while looking for a new one. Then I ended up in the emergency room due to a horrible systemic allergic reaction to something. It was scary cuz you can't breath, my mouth was swelling shut and I was shaking all over with itchy red welts all over my body. The welts are worse today including all over my entire head and in my ears. It's like having the measles AND chickenpox at the same time -so I am in pure misery. I am writing now to keep my mind off the intense overwhelming itch.

**A/N II - CHALLENGE for readers: in this chapter you will find one hidden reference to an old TV show. A prime time series that stared Mark Harmon. See if you can find it! Answer is at the bottom, no peeking!**

**Chapter XIII**

While Gibbs was standing by waiting for the EMT's to place an oxygen mask on Tony's face. They had immediately given him a unit of plasma as well since the since Tony's symptoms as well as his vital signs – all indicated what Ducky has suspected - that there was most likely some internal bleeding, they decided they shouldn't wait to start getting some plasma in to decrease the effects of any blood loss. His stomach had enough rigidity that it usually signified a substantial bleed somewhere.

Gibbs absentmindedly registered the second ambulance as it pulled up along side the first. Jethro had been so concerned and focused on Tony, that he hadn't realized that Vance was now walking towards him with the Pilot following a few paces behind. They had apparently ended the debriefing of Security for the time being. The two new EMT's on scene, Randy and Kimberly – immediately assessed the situation and the victims. They saw the critical patient on a gurney and already being attended to – then they noticed the silver haired gentleman with a blood covered arm – his hand pressed onto his own injury to act as an impromptu tourniquet. They grabbed their medical gear and started to head in that direction.

"Jethro – what the hell happened to you? You're bleeding all over the damn place!" Vance hollered once the chopper blades whirring noisily above had faded away slightly. Gibbs was showing some signs of mild shock himself due to two reasons – one being that his stab wound and the other being the fact that they had been flying with a career criminal for hours without even detecting a thing. Gibbs slowly looked down at his own arm, having forgotten all about it because Tony was so much worse and now staring at the blood - yet not really apprehending the severity of the wound.

Kimberly got to Gibbs side, saving him from having to recall what had happened and explain it to Vance. He would tell him everything once he knew Tony was going to make it to the Hospital.

"Sir, I need you to at least come sit down on the back end of our ambulance and let me check out that arm, it's bleeding pretty heavily and I'm sure you don't want infection settling in. Can you tell me what happened? Is that a gun shot wound? Or a knife wound maybe?" she asked in a very professional tone of voice.

"Stabbed – 4 inch blade." came his stunted reply. "But' I'm not goin' anywhere until someone tells me how the hell my Agent is doing and if he's going to make it to the Hospital – and why no one is already making that happen?" he demanded while sending out daggers of his in the form of his daring glare.

Vance was just about to offer to monitor Tony's situation in order to allow Gibbs to receive at least _some_ field triage, in fact he would **order **him to go if he had to. But then Bryan, the lead EMT responded, having heard that his patient's boss was in need of some kind of confirmation that Tony would make it and where they were taking him, etc.

"Sir . . . Agent Gibbs, you seem like the kind of man who likes things straight, not coated with sugar or bullshit for that matter. I don't know if we can get him there in time to be honest, he's in tough shape and the smoke inhalation and concussion he acquired are not helping matters to say the least. It's peak traffic right now and that always causes delays – but with his health being so precarious right now that delay could be a matter of life and death as far as how quickly we get him there and into surgery."

Gibbs visibly paled even more, and not from the blood loss. Just hearing out loud, that the man whom he thought of as the Son he never had, might actually_ not _survive this time. This time just might be the last of the nine lives that Tony seemed to have. But then just as suddenly as his heart had sunk over the EMT's news, an idea struck him like a brick! It excited him enough to cause his body to release another surge of pure adrenaline and temporarily numbing his painful head and arm.

"Wait, you said traffic on the freeways is the biggest issue? Then wouldn't an airlift in a MedEvac chopper be better in this case?"

"Yes, ideally it would but we don't have one here and in the time it would take us to secure one and get them here - it would be too late." Bryan replied, hating to sound so negative.

Gibbs then stood up a little straighter to mention the plan B part of his idea – he yelled over to the Chief of Security who was still standing a few feet away talking to the Fire Chief. "HEY – how quickly can you get a hold of that chopper that just flew over and landed over on the top of that roof? We need to commandeer that for a medical emergency and every second counts!"

The Security Officer walker over to the group while already calling someone on his hand held radio and ordering them to HOLD the helicopter that was just landing on the North helipad and telling them to also get him the radio frequency for which they could speak to the chopper's pilot - by the time he was Gibbs immediately started barking out more orders.

"Thank you, now I need you to contact the local NCIS squad and get them out here to clear the crime scene, take photos, bag and tag evidence . . . inform them that Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs of the DC division of NCIS will be overseeing the investigation and give them my contact info. I need them to contact me with frequent updates and I especially want any weapons that are recovered, to be sealed and delivered with the rest of the evidence to the lab of Abigail Sciuto at NCIS in DC."

Gibb then officially declared the plane a crime scene once it was confirmed that the mystery co-pilot was indeed deceased and when the Chief of Airport Security arrived on the scene Gibbs intructed him to call in the local NCIS crime response team – but making it clear to everyone that he would still be the one whom would oversee the investigation and that he expected to be contacted at the hospital with a full report as soon as possible. He alerted the chief that he needed him to make sure that everyone knew they were to leave everything AS IS inside the plane so the NCIS team could go in and snap photos, bag and tag evidence etc.

"Also, one last thing." Gibbs started to add, "This is a crime scene and I don't care who asks, the NTSB are also going to wait to begin their investigation, they can do all they want to investigate any part of the **outside **of the plane – but under no circumstances are they to enter the interior until the scene had been secured and NCIS completes their tasks." he paused, then added, "Oh, and tell the NTSB that I want a copy of their report regarding every explosive device and any other form of sabotage that they discover!"

After making sure he took care of business and making sure knowing Tony was still somewhat holding his own, only then did Gibbs agree to allow the EMT to put a field tourniquet on his arm to decrease the blood flow and disinfect the wound – all of which took only minutes since she was clearly good at her job and quite fast. They attempted to check him out further when he stood up off of the rear of the second ambulance awith the promise tat he would see a Doctor at the emergency room immediately after Tony was taken into surgery. He then turned and even though he felt himself swaying on his feet he forced himself to shake it off and then quickly made his way back over to Tony, whom had only been a few feet away where Gibbs had been able to keep an eye on him while being somewhat treated.

_**Inside the Baltimore Police Department Helicopter . . .**_

As the helicopter that was carrying the anxious and worried trio from team Gibbs' approached the airfield, still high above the airstrip they could all make out the intense rising smoke that made each one of them slightly panic inside, each of them afraid to speak and all of them holding their breath, waiting to get closer to the source of the smoke to see if the body plane was still intact.

Wide and tired eyes peered through plexiglass windows as they got closer and closer until – there it was - numerous emergency vehicles with flashing red and blue lights illuminating the smoky nighttime sky caused everyone inside the helicopter to fear the worst had happened. But finally after what seemed like hours, the same three sets of now slightly tearing eye's all spotted the plane and saw that it was basically intact! Three loud sighs of relief came out of their mouth's, a sigh that was as audible as the whirring blades that held them all in the air. Once they spotted the firefighters as they continued to work on putting out all remaining hot spots – then they knew that the massive smoke plume's was most likely caused by their efforts, and not like the worst case scenario which would have involved the jet fuel exploding!

As they drew closer and were flying over and just to the right of where the unbelievable scene was unfolding below, they all leaned closer towards the windows in hopes of spotting Tony and Gibbs standing outside the plane with Gibbs barking orders to everyone who would listen. Abby was the first to spot the long gurney near the two ambulances, and while they were too far up to see the faces, they all knew from what Ducky had told them of Tony's condition – that it had to be him.

Abby was first to break the now deafening silence, "Ohmygosh it's TONY! He's still okay! Otherwise they would have had his head covered with a sheet or sumthin' right? Yeah that has to be right." she rambled. "Tonyyy please please please be okay, you just have to! You cannot leave us – we can't lose anyone else on this team cuz we just won't make it! We already lost Kate . . . and Ziva . . . we just can't - ."

"**Abi-gay-el!**" Ducky finally hollered. "My dear, please you must not think like that. Anthony needs us to be strong for him right now and you have to have faith and rest assured that they will get him to the Hospital in time and they will get him fixed as good as new. I promise." he added the last part since he knew that she would ask him to promise her anyway – she always did!

She silently nodded as tears streamed down her porcelain cheeks. Then turning her hear she strained to look back towards the scene they were already past by now, saying a silent prayer for her friends.

Suddenly as they were landing on the rooftop helipad, they heard the crackling of the radio in the font as it came through on the earphones they were all wearing, earphones that helped drown out the noise from the chopper blades, but that also allowed them to hear the pilots if they spoke to them, and also hear any radio conversations the Pilots were having with the tower.

"Baltimore chopper unit 2-4-zero. Do you copy? Over"

The main pilot came back with "Baltimore chopper unit 2-4-zero responding, over."

"We have an emergency medical situation. I repeat we have an e-mer-gency situation and we need you to hold your position chopper 240, there is a Federal Agent in critical condition who needs to be airlifted if he is going to make it to the Hospital in time to have life saving surgery and keep him alive. Do - you - copy? Over."

"Copy loud and clear. Over. Will await further instructions, chopper 2-4-zero out."

Within seconds Ducky, McGee and Abby started talking at the same time, all eager to figure out their own plan since clearly Tony needed this chopper and there would barely be enough room, even with the chopper being on the larger size, for ALL of them to fit."

McGee finally whistled loudly using his fingers held inside his lips. "Fffrreeet"

"Okay now listen, this is getting us no where! It's about Tony now and getting him taken care of. We need to get going so listen up – here's what we need to do." as the usually more timid Timmy took impressive charge of the frenzied situation. The chopper pilot had shut down the incredibly noisy chopped blades so at least they could all hear what was being said.

"Ducky, I am sure Gibbs is going to want you to ride in here along with Tony to oversee the EMT's and help monitor his condition. So you stay here and wait for them to give the go ahead to land the chopper on the airstrip."

"Abs, you stay here with Ducky for a few more minutes while I run inside those doors over there to try to reach Gibbs on his cell phone. It should be working now that they have landed. I'll ask if he wants us to come down there on the chopper, or just go straight to the hospital." he noticed Abby was just about to object so he continued, not giving her the chance.

"Now hold on Abby, I know you want to see Tony and Gibbs but there's just no room in here for all of us. But I will ask him if there is a unit or squad car – or anything down on the runway, that would be able to get us to the hospital faster. Okay?"

Abby simply nodded, biting her lower lip with her upper teeth and sniffing away her tears.

With that, McGee alerted the Pilots that he needed to exit, then once inside the doors where he could hear better, he dialed quickly.

"Hey Boss, It's McGee."

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**Sorry gang, my Benadryl is kicking in and kicking my a**! I had to stop here but since I 100% expect to lose my job Monday so then I will have more time to write. Fortunate for you, unfortunate for me. :-) Please keep the awesome feedback coming and review!**_


	14. Past Meets Present

A/N: I managed to keep my job for at least ONE more month – so that's good news. But I am still really tired from the stress and allergy attack, etc. So I am sure I missed a couple of errors in this update as usual, but I will fix them later as usual. Haha

I LOVE ALL OF YOU for your wonderful words of encouragement for not only this STORY but also for my personal challenges! You have no idea how helpful you all were in getting me through a touch week! Pls keep the reviews coming and enjoy this newest update.

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Last Time On The Long Flight Home:**_

"_Now hold on Abby, I know you want to see Tony and Gibbs but there's just no room in here for all of us. But I will ask him if there is a unit or squad car – or anything down on the runway, that would be able to get us to the Hospital faster. Okay?"_

_Abby simply nodded, bitting her lower lip with her upper teeth and sniffing away her tears. With that, McGee alerted the Pilots that he needed to exit, then once inside the doors where he could hear better, he dialed quickly._

"_Hey Boss, It's McGee."_

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter XIV**_

_**On The Airstrip In Annapolis, MD . . .**_

Gibbs had been so focused on watching over his Senior Agent – taking comfort in the steady rising and falling of his chest - that he hadn't even noticed the low toned ringing of his cell phone. He had it clipped on his belt but had all but forgotten about it since they had been completely out of the service range for so many hours. It wasn't until one of the many EMT's that were eagerly waiting for the airfield tower to give the Baltimore Police chopper the clearance to land on the runway near where the ambulances were sitting, noticed the muted ringing and alerted Gibbs to it.

Before the tower could give the chopper Pilot the 'all clear', they had to clear out many of the remaining emergency vehicles that were still lining the area around the doomed plane. They had been told the chopper would be able to land within the next 5-8 minutes. After grabbing the annoying mobile phone, Gibbs was surprised at the hoarse and almost weak sound of his own voice as he answered.

"Gibbs – talk to me." he said as he barely registered the caller ID's announced name.

"Hey Boss, it's McGee." Tim hesitated slightly having barely recognized his bosses' voice.

"Uh . . . how's Tony doing Boss?" he stammered.

Gibbs softened a little before answering, fatigue and worry having chipped away at his usual impatient style. "I've seen 'im doing better Tim, what's your ETA here?"

McGee suddenly felt nauseas as he heard Gibbs refer to him by his first name, they all knew that was a sure sign the man was distraught and it was usually only when one of them was in danger or hurt. "Well, um . . we – we're here B-boss. We just arrived via helicopter from Baltimore since no planes were being allow in or out of here - it was the only way. We heard that they are going to use the same chopper to get Tony to the Hospital, is-zat true? I called to see what you need us to do and let you know we are sending Ducky down in the helicopter to help with Tony."

"That's good thinking Tim, that helicopter may be the one thing that keeps us from losing To-n- . . . him." Gibbs had started to say Tony's name, something that was seemingly simple, yet he was caught off guard when the name stuck in his throat as he suddenly became choked up – causing him to quickly cover and just say '_him_'. After forcing his Marine side back into full control he added, "You and Abby can come down here as well, there are enough emergency vehicles and Police units still around that we'll get one of em to bring you to the Hospital. I'm gonna want to see what Intel you have gathered so far in this investigation."

"Yeah, okay Boss sure. Well I better get going, I can see Abby from here and she's giving me the thumbs up so we must be cleared to go." he paused to allow Gibbs to acknowledge his statement, only to find dial tone greeting his eardrum. '_Typical Gibbs'_ he thought.

Gibbs had quickly clipped his phone back onto his belt while he started walking back towards his Agent, he knew he had probably hung up on McGee mid-sentence but he had been distracted when he noticed harried activity around Tony's gurney - he had stepped a few feet away from the area to answer his phone out of earshot from the others but he purposely stayed close enough to still keep an eye on him just in case.

"What's going on?" he asked Bryan, the lead EMT. Gibbs hadn't even noticed Kimberly and one of the other Paramedic's whom were now finally checking Vance and the Pilot out on the end of the other ambulance since both of them had sustained some level of head trauma. While Bryan and Ellis continued placing light blue packs in various places on Tony's body such as one under each armpit, he answered Gibbs without missing a step, "Ice packs. I don't like how high his fever has been spiking, we need to help cool him down in any way we can until we can get him to the Hospital. We only keep a handful of these ice packs with us since our bus has limited storage space – but it's better than nothin' right now." Gibbs looked down at Tony's face that was now even more flushed than it had been thus far. The sheen of sweat that had been constant on his face for almost the entire flight, was pretty much the same. But the red tone his skin had now taken, gave Gibbs a false sense of comfort since it certanly beat the ghostly pale color that he had been sporting which made him look like he already had one foot in the grave. The redness from the fever not only made Tony _look _more alive – but it also gave one the mistaken impression that he was merely blushing. _'If only that were the case_', Gibbs realized . . . '_i__f only.'_

His thoughts were immediately interrupted by the extremely loud whir of a helicopter as the Baltimore Police chopper descended on the landing zone they had designated nearby. There were a couple of Airport personnel standing nearby guiding the Pilot down with hand held orange light sticks that were crucial in cutting through the heavy smoke that still hung in the air from some of the still smoldering hot spots on and around the cargo plane. Then it seemed like the entire area was suddenly thrust into movement with a renewed burst of energy and urgency. Everyone moved completely in tune _and_ in unison - each person realizing that the bottom line was to get the critical patient, Tony, where he needed to be – and FAST! Nothing else mattered.

Ducky, McGee and Abby jumped out of the helicopter while the EMT's were already rolling the gurney holding one very unconscious Senior NCIS Agent, over to the side of the large chopper to get him loaded inside for the short journey. At the exact same time, Abby and McGee were rushed over to an nearby Police cruiser awaiting to escort them directly to the Hospital – anticipating an arrival time of just 15 minutes _after_ the helicopter was expected to arrive. At the edge of the helicopter, Bryan and Ellis moved quickly to push some of the retractable passenger seats back into their retracted state to make more room. The focused EMT's obviously had to utilize this type of chopper before in prior emergencies since they moved with assurance and precision **and** without so much as a _second _of wasted time. Within minutes the 2 EMTs and Ducky climbed in around Tony, it was a tight fit but would only be for an estimated 8 to 10 minutes. Gibbs had to get in the front section next the the Pilot but he didn't care if he had to hang from the landing rail on the bottom of the whirling bird – he was going with his Agent!

Ducky immediately opened his portable medical bag so he could start taking his own assessment of Tony's condition. The English man had to catch himself when he first laid eye's on Tony's face and body – he had considered himself someone who could pretty much handle anything at this point in his long and adventurous life – but even he was surprised at the amount of pure, raw emotion that jumped to the surface upon seeing the now critical nature of his dear colleague and friend. He could easily see the severe bruising along Tony's torso, and the alternating pale skin, intermingled with flushed and feverish skin, which only seemed to cause the bruising to stand out even more. Not only the bruising on his abdominal region, but for the first time other than when viewing his black and white X-rays, Ducky could really see the thick line of dark bruising that completely surrounded Tony's neck from when Rivkin had tried to strangle him. He knew that the X-rays had thankfully shown all of his bones undamaged, but none-the-less that had to be painful for certain.

The ME moved the edge of Tony's sweat soaked dress shirt over slightly to allow for use of his stethoscope so he could determine the strength and detect any threadiness in Tony's heartbeat. He was happy to see that the two Medics beside him, didn't seem threatened or insulted at all by the older man's involvement and repeated assessment, they could clearly see the lines of intense worry that etched the man's face – they only mimicked the same expression of the silver haired Agent in the front of the chopper.

The two EMT's had instantly detected how close these men were to each other, and how much they cared. Truly the epitome of a **team** and as close as family they each thought as they cast each other an empathetic smile.

By sliding Tony's shirt slightly back, Ducky's eyes grew wider as he now also spotted the state of Tony's shoulder as it too was marred by black and blue. Ducky had examined him once upon Gibbs' insistence, immediately after he came back to the office the night of the fight, directly from the Emergency Room – and he had seen the bruising that was beginning around the broken bone in Tony's arm, but he hadn't expected it to seemingly spread like this in a sense and extend to the surrounding flesh.

Giving it another moment thought he decided he would have to ask Gibbs if there were more to any of Tony's injuries that had occurred within the confines of the cargo plane since some of the bruising he now realized, could have definitely come from that. Little did Ducky know that his long time friend Gibbs, had not yet informed him about Ziva's emotional outburst in Tel-Aviv and her physical attack on her now _former_ partner, part of which he would realize later on, was also responsible for at least some of the additional bruising on Tony's body simply from his jarring fall to the ground with absolutely nothing to break his fall.

Silence despite the noisy chopper blades. No one was speaking inside the helicopter even though they all had headsets and mic's on that allowed for two-way communication. It was almost as if the outlook was too grim and the levels of worry too high, for anyone to voice a comment or even offer a word of encouragement.

The only correspondence remained between the Hospital and the chopper Pilot, Lt. Daniel M. Wilson, as he alerted the Hospital with his ETA and made arrangements to land on their medevac helipad that was positioned on the roof of the building that housed the Emergency Trauma Unit. Dan had been **so **focused on doing his duty to assist with this emergency transport, that he had not had time to even glance back at his new and fading passenger.

If he would have, he would have recognized his former co-worker and buddy – a one time Baltimore Homicide Detective, the infamous Anthony DiNozzo – or "Dino" as he had always called him back in the day.

It wouldn't be until later, after he helped to make sure that his precious human cargo, made it all the way into the life saving walls of the Trauma Unit/Surgery Center, that he would finally realize that he _**knew**_ the man – and then he too would find himself suddenly swooped up into the rest of the awaiting group of worried teammates and friends as they helped keep each other's spirits up throughout the intense hours of surgery that lay ahead.

Hours of waiting to find out whether they would be visiting . . . or _burying_ a beloved member of their family.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**I had planned on a longer chapter but then this part just ended up being a perfect place to leave it for now. ENJOY AND PLS KEEP REVIEWING!! Thank you!!**_


	15. Seeking Answers

**Author's Note: **As always I want to say **thank you **to all of you whom review this story as well as my others – I am working on replying to each of you but I am a little behind so be patient. :-) I want to point out that some of the things in my story are not necessarily fact based but I do try to research as much as I can to keep it real. I just ask that you roll with it if I don't describe something perfectly or with 100% accuracy. Just remember this is fan fiction so we should be able to have a little fun with it and not take it too seriously.

I have Tony being brought to Baltimore's Shock Trauma Hospital, the only one in the nation (facts included at end of chapter) – and even though his injuries may not seem severe enough for that kind of drastic facility – it's the combination of all of his injuries and such – as well as for the effect of adding drama and excitement to the story. ENJOY!!

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

_It wouldn't be until later, after he helped to make sure that his precious human cargo, made it all the way into the life saving walls of the Trauma Unit/Surgery Center, that he would finally realize that he **knew** the man – and then he too would find himself suddenly swooped up into the rest of the awaiting group of worried teammates and friends as they helped keep each others spirits up throughout the intense hours of surgery that lay ahead. _

_Hours of waiting to find out whether they would be visiting . . . or burying a beloved member of their family._

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

_**Chapter XV**_

_**Back In Tel Aviv . . .**_

Ziva and Amit had first arrived at the Tel-Aviv Military air field, they had gone directly towards the tall flight tower since there were a couple more people that they needed to 'interrogate' so they could obtain the last of the important information they were seeking – the status and whereabouts of flight CD77319Z. But for now they had to be patient and wait, content with just keeping the entrances to the tower under surveillance, watching it through binoculars while they waited for the much anticipated signal that was supposed to come any minute, a signal that would let them know the coast was clear for them to finally move in.

The tower itself was 6 stories high but most of the employees worked on the top floor although there were a few whom worked in the small number of offices on the floor directly below that. The top floor consisted of a a large wide open flight deck as opposed to offices or cubicles, this floor was completely surrounded by windows in every direction. That level was known

\to be where the main flight control room was located, the level where Air Traffic Control planned and monitored every incoming and outgoing flight knowing that any error no matter how slight, could have catastrophic results. Every flight was orchestrated and coordinated like a perfectly choreographed dance. The floor just below the main deck was smaller but held people with positions that were just as important as Air Traffic Control. This deck housed other critical stations such as; Flight Data Controller, Radar Associate, Tower Flight Data and En Route Controllers. One flight deck employee in particular played an important role in this past of the investigation – Jaron Abraham.

Jaron was the assistant to the Chief Air Traffic Controller (CATC), working alongside him on the 2nd floor deck, just below the main control room. He had owed Amit a favor ever since Amit had once arrested him as part of a drug sting operation, a sting that had been responsible for bringing down a rather large illegal drug cartel. Amit had arranged to have any charges against Jaron dropped since he did this on occasion when he felt that a minor league criminal would be of more use to him as an informant out on the streets.

Even though Jaron had a good job, he had always led a sneaky and dangerous social life since he himself was addicted to cocaine. Hadar had told him back then that there would come a time when he would call on Jaron to return the favor.

That time was now.

* * * * * *

Jaron had been contacted by Amit earlier that same day, he was instructed to first make sure that the CATC would be alone in their small second level office, Jaron would then leave to take a smoke break – or more realistically for Jaron - a 'coke' (cocaine) break! Then once he left the tower through the employee entrance, he would text a single pre-arranged code word to Ziva's new disposable, and hence untraceable cell phone - at which time they would know it was safe to move in for the final step in their investigation into the sabotage and well being of the doomed flight.

**_Meanwhile, outside the flight tower:_** After staking out the employee entrance for about thirty minutes, Ziva's new cell phone finally vibrated in announcement of a text message, she showed the illuminated screen to Amit - "Clear" was the single word that stared back at him. The duo moved quickly and entered through the side entrance that was clearly marked _'Employees Only_' which had been left propped open by their exiting mole.

Within under 2.5 minutes they had already arrived at the top of the stairs on the 3rd floor, the floor that carried the weight of the man who had the most important information that they still needed to obtain – where was flight CD77319Z, just what kind of damage had it sustained from the premeditated sabotage, and had any of the passengers been hurt in the process?!

* * * * * *

Chief Air Traffic Controller, Hadasa Kumal, had been working as the head of air traffic control at the Israeli airfield for only 6 months, so far things had been quiet to the point of being borderline boring – especially in comparison to the much larger air field he had worked at prior to this one. Butunbeknown to him_ - that_ was about to change.

He was currently alone in the main control room after allowing his Assistant to take a short smoke break. He had gladly allowed his faithful underling to do so since not only did he deserve one for all of his ongoing good work, but also since it was a slower time of the evening with light air traffic, only one scheduled outgoing flight and 3 incoming.

Suddenly his thoughts were abruptly disrupted when the door into the room where he was stationed, came crashing open and smacked loudly into the wall behind it!

* * * * * *

While Ziva was positioned in the hallway just outside of the lower level control center, she would remain positioned there to monitor not only that area but the elevator and stairwell exits. She anxiously watched as Amit proceeded to force his way inside, eager to have a little chat with the Chief Air Traffic Controller stationed just inside that door. The intended mission was to finally obtain any and all updates on flight CD77319Z as well as to find out how much, if any, damage had occurred as a result of the sabotage that had been ordered by Director David. Amit Hadar planned to use whatever forms of '_persuasion_' were necessary in order to get the shady CATC to give him ALL of the information that he and Ziva were seeking. Amit had a gut feeling that his cohort Ziva, would quite possibly hurt the man more severely than they needed to - which is why he insisted on going in himself.

He had been observing Ziva all day and one thing that did not escape his notice were the frown lines on her forehead that seemed to only deepen as the hours went on. He could easily detect the guilt and inner turmoil she was feeling and Amit could only assume that it had something to do with one Anthony DiNozzo since he had been her main concern they first began this secret investigation. Any time Amit had even mentioned Ziva's former partner's name, he would notice that Ziva would visibly tense and her mood would instantly shift to an even more somber and fretful state of mind.

He pushed those thoughts away for now, he needed to focus on the task at hand and hope that the information he obtained from this man would bring Ziva the peace of mind in knowing that her former partner was okay. At least he _hoped _that would be the case.

He then proceeded to move quickly until he was standing only inches away from a wide eyed and now shaking Hadasa, his gun pointed directly between the man's eyes. "Listen to me, I work for Mossad and we are in the midst of an important investigation. You - will - **not** - be - hurt - if you just cooperate - and give me the information that I need. _**Mevine**_?!"

_*Mevine = Hebrew for: 'Understand?'_

_**Shock Trauma Hospital – Baltimore, MD . . .**_

Miniscule bits of dirt and debris blew into the air in little whirlwinds as the helicopter descended on the helipad. The engine was quickly shut down and before the whirling blades had even begun to end their swirling dance, a portion of the Hospital's large the trauma team were already advancing towards the bird with wheelchairs and an extra gurney as a precaution.

They had been informed of Tony's situation by several people – Vance had called his contact there, once from the plane and again thirty minutes ago while he himself was transported to the hospital since they needed to make sure his head injury wasn't going to cause any problems – but also as standard procedure after what the three agents and Pilot had just endured during their ill-fated flight. Ducky had reached out to his own contact there several hours earlier – and then finally, the EMT's and the chopper Pilot had been in regular contact, giving them constant updates on not only Tony's condition, but Jethro's as well unbeknown to him, since he seemed content to ignore his own serious knife wound that clearly needed treatment, stitches and antibiotics to ward off infection not to mention his own head injury and sluggish pupil's that the EMT's kept checking on periodically without Gibbs having so much as an inkling of suspicion, his focus too wrapped up in his Senior Field Agent's welfare.

Lt. Dan Wilson jumped out of the chopper, and out of the way – but he made sure to remain close enough to lend a hand should the need arise. The aura of tension and fear in the air was thick, everyone focused and intent on getting this patient into surgery as soon as possible. Dan watched as the gurney was pulled out of his helicopter and the lead Trauma Specialist (Ducky's long time friend) stopped it for a brief moment so he could quickly do his own assessment of the man's condition.

He watched as Lead Agent Gibbs was approached by another Doctor or Nurse whom was also part of the expert medical team – he watched as they pointed Gibbs attention towards an awaiting wheelchair in front of them unknowingly instigating a battle of wills that Dan could tell right away - they had **no** chance of winning. Finally the gurney and the surrounding entourage started in motion, moving quickly towards the entrance a few yards away. Dan stayed his post since he wasn't in their direct path – he felt drawn to these people and knew he could not leave without finding out if the patient was going to make it.

But when the gurney was close enough to where he was standing, he finally had a chance to look at the man as the gurney raced by, and even with an oxygen mask, ice packs and extensive bruising that partially obstructed the patient's face – Dan would have recognized the enviably handsome face of his former teammate anywhere – no one heard his whispered realization "_Oh my God! Dino_?

Dan quickly took off after the group as they headed inside, his heart now racing and his mind filled with sudden memories of the crazy times he had had when his former friend had worked with him at the Baltimore PD. He said a silent prayer for him and truly wished their reunion could have been under much different circumstances.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

**NOTE: While writing this chapter, I got so into it that I wrote it way too long, I decided to cut off half of it and put it into the next chapter. The GOOD NEWS IS, I will post that addn'l chapter by the end of today!! Pls Review as always and as always – I THANK you all!!**

_**Research Notes;**_

_The Shock Trauma Center (in Baltimore, MD) is the nation's only Trauma Hospital. Dedicated to treating the severely injured and employ groundbreaking research and innovative medical procedures with one goal in mind - saving lives. Shock Trauma is proud to stand as a cornerstone of Maryland's EMS Trauma System._


	16. Answers Revealed

**A/N – I proof-read the story but rather quickly so I could post before going to church. I will re-proof it again later today! ENJOY! :-)** This is a really LONG chapter so you can see why I split half of it off of yesterday's update!!

_**Special note to Angentskully6**_– I can't reply to you or even PM you so I wanted to say I am sorry too & we are A-Okay! I tried to PM you to tell you that but I don't know how to reach you since you have everything disabled. You are awesome and I thank you for your msg to me. **:-) I hope you activate your PM so people can contact you,** it does not allow people to see your real name or email address. Think about it.

_**Story Note: **In this chapter I make reference to the 3rd airfield technician whom had fled and disappeared. The chapter referencing his initial disappearance is back in Ch X (Ten = 'Turn Of Events') if you want to refresh your memories. I had to do that too. hee hee_

_**ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home: **But when the gurney was close enough to where he was standing, he finally had a chance to look at the man as the gurney raced by, and even with an oxygen mask, ice packs and extensive bruising that partially obstructed the patient's face – Dan would have recognized the enviably handsome face of his former teammate and friend anywhere – no one heard his whispered realization "Oh my God! Dino?_

_Dan quickly took off after the group as they headed inside, his heart now racing and his mind filled with sudden memories of the crazy times he had had when his former friend had worked with him at the Baltimore PD. He said a silent prayer for him and wished their reunion could have been under much different circumstances._

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis**_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XVI**

_**Baltimore - Shock Trauma Hospital Waiting Room . . .**_

Ten minutes later Lt. Daniel T. Wilson found himself being numbly led into a nearby waiting room while the Doctor and Lead NCIS Agent whom had accompanied Tony in the chopper, had been allowed to stay with Tony into a trauma room, but only temporarily since the trauma team had questions pertaining to Tony's injuries, including questions about the last time he had been conscious, ingested any food or beverage, and all of the other standard pre-operative questions.

Dan's still shocked brain was startled once again as two new people came practically bursting through the swinging door of the waiting room. One was raven haired and good looking female who seemed almost high on something as she rambled in a high pitched voice, speaking faster than Dan had thought humanly possible. She was followed by an out of breath young man whom was carrying a laptop case and multiple file folders – obviously struggling to keep up with the female whilst carrying everything.

The Police Lieutenant continued his flabbergasted observation – watching as the obviously gothic loving young woman in pig tails turned around to face her tired, overwhelmed friend.

"OmyGodOmyGodOmyGod we are FINALLY here McGee!! Now Iwannaknow howTonyis! I HAVE to know! Gofindout for me Timmy!! Pleeeaaassse! PrettyPleeeaase withsugar AND a cherry ontop!!"

"ABBY! Please could you just sit down for two seconds? Please?" he replied as he gladly dropped everything he was barely holding onto, on the nearest upholstered bench.

"You need to take a few deep breath's Abby, and **trust -** **me** - they are doing everything they can here for Tony – I am **sure** of it. If you can just sit down and take five, I will go see what I can find out. _Okay_?" he spoke to her in a very soothing and caring voice, speaking slowly as if to get her to mimic his behavior.

His trick seemed to be rather successful as the woman, Abby, chewed lightly on her own lower lip while she slowly nodded her head. She then sank down into a nearby chair and when she spoke again it was slower, only slightly but definitely more understandable nonetheless. "Okay, thanks Timmy." she said, now talking much slower and deeper than before, she even somewhat smiled as she looked up at him. "I know - you are right - they wouldn't just let him **die**, I mean this is a hospital for Pete's sake! I mean the TOP trauma hospital in the entire U S of A McGee! Did you know that? I looked it up on your laptop when you fell asleep on the plane. Ducky told me he asked for Tony to be brought here, remember?"

The man, this McGee – smiled sweetly down at her while he put his finger on the bottom of her chin to capture her discombobulated focus as he answered. "Yes Abby, I knew that – but only because you forgot to close the web browser you had used to do the search on." he laughed heartily at the guilty look on her face.

"It's okay Abs, really that is nothing and you know you can use _anything_ of mine, _anytime_ without even asking."

Dan felt guilty at the way he was staring at the animated duo, but he was unable to take his eyes off the scene before him, and they seemed oblivious to his presence anyway so what was the harm? He watched at this Abby gal's face, as she raised up just one of her eyebrow's in a rather sultry expression and responded.

"Rrreeaally now? ANYthing McGee?" she teased.

The man's face turned three shades of red as he quickly became flustered, "Uh . . . ha - ha - ha Abby. Ver-ry funny. Okay now Abs I need you to focus, just sit still, if you can – and I will go see what I can find out at the Nurses' station. Then I will try to find something for us to drink and maybe snack on. It's been like 7 hours since we ate and even _that_ was not filling." he said as he thought back to the light lunch provided on the plane.

Dan watched while the waiting room door finished swinging back and forth after the other man had left the room. He found himself mesmerized by the motion of the door since it helped to distract him for a minute – distract him from the intense worry that was gnawing away at his stomach – worry that he may never get the chance to even _have_ that reunion with his former friend.

His focus on the door was finally broken when he felt the light touch of a hand on his arm, looking over to his left he was shocked to see the huge and beautiful eyes of the gothic cutie, that were staring right into his own now widened eyes.

_**Inside One Of The Trauma Rooms . . .**_

The room was getting pretty crowded as various medical people moved quickly in and out – one running out to take blood samples to the lab, another coming in with a portable X-ray machine, yet another hanging a new units of fresh blood and extra plasma hoping to get Tony to a stronger state so they could operate on his and lower the risks. Operating on him when his blood levels and hence pressure was so low, would only increase the potential risks.

Both Gibbs and Ducky had been allowed in the room but were forced to stand against the wall, farthest from the hub of activity surrounding Tony. They were told that they were only allowed to remain in the room until the lead Trauma Specialist had obtained as much information from them in regard to exactly what had happened to their newest patient to put him in this precarious condition, also needing to know not only _how _each of his injuries were obtained – but also _when_.

Before agreeing to allow the two men to stay in Tony's trauma room, Dr. Leonardo "Lee" Crawford, Ducky's long time friend and former colleague, had attempted repeatedly to get Gibbs into a treatment room of his own so they could treat him at the same time, but to his dismay the man had gruffly and firmly refused, still demanding that he was well enough to wait until he knew his best Agent was stable.

The physician knew enough about blood loss and concussions to know that the man could protest all he wanted, eventually his body would make the final decision _for_ him and only then would the medical team most likely be able to help him. For now though, he wanted to keep an eye on the man so he had only let them _think _that they were being allowed to stay just so they could give the medical team more detailed information surrounding Tony's injuries. When in reality that was just _one_ of the reasons, the other was to allow Crawford to secretly monitor the Lead Agent's well being until the fading Marine had no choice in the matter when his body would finally take over.

And that is exactly what eventually went down – literally.

Dr. Crawford listened patiently while continuing to treat Tony and also prepping him for his inevitable surgery while Gibbs filled them all in on the damage his very pale Senior agent had sustained – starting with the damage done to his ribs and forearm during the fight he had with Rivkin - the jarring fall to the cement landing when his former partner selfishly blindsided him by kicking his feet out from under the defenseless man – the sudden onset of intense stomach pains and eventual fever that came over him during the first couple of hours into their long, tumultuous flight – the concussion and head laceration obtained during one of the explosions, and last but not at all least - his stupid yet extremely heroic move of standing upright to kill the imposter whom had essentially hijacked their plane – singlehandedly saving everyone's lives in the process.

By the time Gibbs had finished with the run down, that only took him approximately 2 minutes, almost every individual currently stationed in the trauma room, had stopped what they were doing just for a second. They all just stared at him, their eyes wide with shock at everything these people, especially this patient, had just been though in only a matter of 2 days! How was this man even still alive? That question ran through nearly ever one of their minds.

"Wow." the main Physician finally uttered, "Well the fact that he has made it through all of that – actually proves how strong this man's will to live is – that is encouraging Agent Gibbs and I assure you, we will all make sure that his tremendous efforts to remain alive, do not prove to be fruitless. Now I thank you for the detailed information as that will help us tremendously." He then turned towards Ducky, "Donald, it is good to see you again my friend. Do you have anything to add from a medical perspective?"

"Yes it is quite good to see you again as well Lee – but no, I have nothing further to add. I only just arrived about an hour ago myself so I merely helped the EMT's to monitor his condition to make sure that he stayed alive long enough to get here. I knew that he had a fighting chance once we got him into your capable hands since I know you are one of the best, if not THE best when it comes to traumatic injuries. I must thank you for agreeing to help us on one of your rather rare days off."

Just then out of the corner of Ducky's eye, he caught sight of Gibbs as he started to pitch forward slightly. His injuries could no longer be ignored as they finally reminded everyone of their presence.

Gibbs caught himself and stood back up against the wall, hoping no one had noticed, luck was not on his side as he suddenly felt Ducky's strong grip on his arm as he attempted to keep his friend from falling any further.

"Okay Agent Gibbs," Dr. Crawford announced, "I have humored you long enough and I am afraid I am going to have to insist that we treat you even if I have to use restraints on you to do so! Jack, help him over to any available treatment room, and try to get one close to this one. Use a wheelchair if you have to." the Doctor took over and started shouting out instructions. He had the information he needed in order to best treat Agent DiNozzo – so now he could get another one of their expert physician's to treat Agent Gibbs while he scrubbed up for the more critical Agent's much needed and overdue surgery.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and sighed, he really was feeling awful now that the adrenaline rush of getting Tony here had faded. He felt nauseous, extremely dizzy, drowsy and suddenly very weak. He let his head fall back against the wall, Ducky still gripping his arm tightly. He decided to close his eyes just for a second . . .

Blink ~ blink ~ blink . . . the next time Gibbs opened his eyes he was completely confused and disoriented when he realized he was looking up at white ceiling tiles and rather bright lights – _**and**_ he was now laying flat on his back! His headache now felt like it was killing him literally and the lights were certainly not helping. The pain he had felt earlier where his arm had been stabbed, was now barely detectable so he knew that they must have already administered pain medication for which he was silently grateful.

"Well well Jethro, how nice of you to come back to us from your impromptu siesta." Ducky's voice could be heard as the ME then leaned forward moving into Gibbs' line of sight. "You certainly went down fast I must say. I thought for a moment you were going to end up with another concussion or worsen the one you already have." he explained.

"Wha – what's going on, where are we? . . . TONY?!" Gibbs nearly shot straight up as his memories all came back in a hurry. He fell instantly back against the pillows when the movement caused him to nearly scream out from the pain in his head. He had to take several deep breaths through his nose in order to quell the nausea that was attempting to force bile up from his stomach. Thankfully the breathing trick worked and he did not throw up. He had learned that trick from another Marine while both of them were healing in an infirmary after a blasting exercise had gone wrong.

"Shhh – now Jethro you must remain calm and still. If you can do that, I will tell you everything and bring you up to speed." Gibbs barely nodded, intent on making sure he did not move his head much at all.

"Very well then, Tony is doing fine, they have been successful at stabilizing him enough for surgery, he should actually be in the process of being put under the anesthesia as we speak. The Doctor said he will send someone out with an update midway into the surgery to tell us what they have found and what they are doing. Now as for you, well I must admit that I am a little miffed at you myself Jethro. You know better than to keep injuries as severe as your proved to be, hidden from me. You would do more than head slap them if any one of your team had done so!"

Gibbs opened his mouth, starting to protest.

"No, don't even start Jethro, I have not finished. After you passed out from sheer blood loss and effects of your concussed state, we removed the jacket you had put on at some point to cleverly hide your knife wound. The field tourniquet and gauze that the EMT's had dressed your wound with at the airfield, was more than soaked clean through with blood, in fact none of us noticed that it had even started to bleed through the coat you were wearing. You have been out for thirty minutes because your blood pressure had dropped to such a critically low level - so during that time they started you on an IV with anti-biotics, low dose morphine for the pain and a unit of fresh blood."

"They would have had to add an extra unit of plasma as well if your blood pressure didn't rise quickly enough – but it seems to have risen quite well being that you have regained consciousness." Ducky paused to take a deep breath, well aware that Gibbs was being far too quiet for too long, more evidence that he was still not feeling up to par. Gibbs was looking around at the IV's, blood and checking out his are while the ME continued

"Your arm has been cleaned and X-rayed to see if the knife did any damage to the bone. The Doctor said that one of their top Nurse's would be in shortly to stitch you up. He said she is known for her talented ability to close wounds yet leaving the patient with very little scarring. Once that has been done you are going upstairs for a CT scan of your thick skull to see if your concussion had resulted in any damage that may be cause for concern."

Once he finished with the run down, his friend finally spoke but his words only caused Ducky to shake his own head in frustration. He could swear sometimes that Gibbs and Tony were one and the same!

"Okay. Thank you Ducky, so how soon before I can be released? I have an investigation to run that McGee and Abby have information on - **and **I need to check on how things are going with Tony."

This time it was Ducky's turn to roll his eyes.

_**Meanwhile In Tel-Aviv . . .**_

Amit had just finished telling the frightened CATC who he worked for and what his purpose for busting into the man's office was – though he was purposely evasive since he didn't want to divulge too much information since technically, this was NOT a case being worked on by Mossad.

"You - will - **not** - be - hurt - if you just cooperate - and give me the information that I need. _**Mevine**_?!"

The nervous man nodded in agreement. "Ken, ken ani – ani - ani mevin!!" (T_ransl: Yes, yes I - I understand!_)

"Good now kindly be seated and I assure you this will not take long. I know you have a job to do and that you have an assistant whom could come in at any moment. Amit made it a point to act as though the assistant had played no part in this 'break in', he had gotten what he needed from Jaron and there would be no reason to ruin the man's career since he too had a family.

Now – I am seeking information on flight CD77319Z – it took off about 12 to 14 hours ago and it has come to our attention that someone may have sabotages the engines and perhaps other parts of the plane as well – and anything else you can tell me about that plane and flight that you think may be important. You do that and I will leave you here save and sound as though I never stopped by. You don't however, and I will have my partner come in from the hallway and cause you to have a serious, uh . . . _accident_, and trust me when I say this - you would not like that option. Now speak!"

"Okay okay, I will tell you all that you need to know just don't hurt me!" the frantic man replied. "I already know without checking, it's been all that anyone can talk about here in the tower. The flight you referenced had problems, that is true. No one seems to have all the details but I had already been asked to check the flight records – actually it was your Director of the Mossad whom contacted us asking for that information."

Amit cringed, suddenly feeling sickened by the role he had played in carrying out part of the orders the Director had imposed. Although knowing he had not been told just how drastic the alterations to the plane were going to be. He knew then that Eli David had not trusted him to assist I he had known all the facts. "Go on – and talk faster! What else do you know?" he demanded.

"There were numerous problems involving the engines, nearly disabling the plane mid-flight, and we have been informed by the NTSB that a full investigation will be taking place and any mechanic or technician whom had worked on that place before departure, are all going to be investigated. They said there was evidence of tampering of various parts of the plane including explosives that were attached to the The Pilot was able to limp the plane to land in Annapolis, Maryland which was not their initial destination. I understand that even the landing was problematic – the landing gear failed to lock in and the plane barely stayed intact. But . . . there is more." he paused, gulping in fear and acting as though he was afraid to share the additional facts.

I said tell me everything that you know! Now tell me!!" Hadar yelled as he got right up into the man's face, instantly regretting doing so after getting a whiff of the man's horrific breath.

"Okay okay, just **back off**! I get claustrophobic when someone gets too close to me – **please**!" After Amit gladly backed off, but just far enough to be out of reach of the wretched breath. He quickly inhaled some of the fresher air since he had been holding his breath for the past minute.

"A body was found here at the airfield just a couple of hours ago. A delivery company came to pick up some steel drums that were supposed to be filled only with some of the more hazardous chemicals that the mechanics use to maintain the planes and other things. They have to be disposed of in a very specific fashion due to the environment." Hadasa saw a renewed fury in the eyes of his attacker as the man was quickly losing patience with him.

"Look, just skip the environmental lesson Kumal – get to your point!"

"Okay okay! One of the workers noticed one of the drums was heavier by far than all the others, he found the stripped and dead body of Lance Corporal Edward Campbell. Someone killed him and then using his uniform, it is believed that the murderer then boarded the flight posing as co-pilot Campbell."

Amit immediately thought of the missing mechanic whom had disappeared himself just after the plane took off. Everyone thought he had just panicked and fled. Now it appears that he done just that, but creating more death and destruction along the way!

"Okay you have done well, that is good information and exactly what I need. Now just one more thing and I will leave you and then you must act as though we never had this discussion, if you value your own safety and that of your family, you will take this conversation to your grave. I need to know that all of the passengers on that flight are okay. What can you tell me?"

"I don't know if any injuries were acquired because of the explosives or rough landing. I do know that one passenger had become ill but that was before any of the engine troubles had begun. I only heard that his condition was pretty serious by the time they landed. All of us have been trying to obtain more details to no avail, especially in regard to the killer whom appears to have taken Lance Corporal Campbell's place in the cockpit, but all information is highly secured right now due to pending investigations by both NCIS and the NTSB."

Amit was surprised at how much the initially frightened man had calmed down, all in all he seemed to be of high intelligence as was reflected in his articulate speech and knowledge pertaining to his job.

"Do you know _when_ they landed in Annapolis?"

"Yes, I believe it was at around 1900 hours in the US." Hadar felt much more relaxed once he knew the information the man wanted was something he could actually give him. He also could sense that the man would not harm him and assuming the man was truly working for Mossad, Kumal had no reason to want to halter an investigation such as this, especially knowing that a Pilot had been killed, Lance Corporal Ted Campbell had been a good man!

**To Be Continued . . .**

_**Sorry no cliff hanger this time :-) I want to get this posted so I will make the next chapter more exciting and action packed! Thanks everyone – pls review!!**_


	17. All About 'Dino'

**A/N – Hi all! ****_I just need to say one more time that I will do SOME research for my stories right now (as much as I can), but I have little time as it is ti update four ongoing stories along with a stressful, time consuming job/life/commute. Sorry if I missed any errors, I did proof read it so hope I got em all!_**

_If anyone does feel they have to point out something that is really bugging them – no problem but I would REALLY appreciate it if you could do it via a **personal msg (PM)** because a lot of times people might point out something somewhat minor that everyone else would have otherwise never even noticed. I have said in a few A/N's that some of my facts will be researched and accurate while others I may have taken some small liberties on for the sake the story or to get you an update faster! I have enough (bigger) stresses in my life rt now than to prematurely worry about that. I could understand if it was a fact that seriously altered or messed up the story in some way, but I ask that you let it go if you do see anything minor or picky _**_– But I will try to be better anyway! :-D_**

_I explained to the reviewer who pointed out the flight stuff and Tony getting out of the stretcher __in the "hero" scene - that Tony was fueled by adrenaline after regaining consciousness and hearing the man threatening his only stood for a matter of a minute to throw the knife then lost that rush and collapsed. **NOTE TO THAT REVIEWER: I want to tell you that I got your last PM reply & other review and all is A-OK and COOL so NO worries!! Thanks! :-)**_

**_For you amazing patience - HERE'S A REALLY LONG CHAPTER FOR YOU . . .enjoy!_**

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home: **_

"Do you know _when_ they landed in Annapolis?"

"Yes, I believe it was somewhere between 1900 and 2100 hours US military time." Hadar felt much more relaxed once he realized that the information the man was seeking, was something he could actually give him. He could also sense that the man would not harm him and assuming the man was truly working for Mossad, Kumal had no reason to want to halter an investigation such as this, especially knowing that a Pilot had been killed, Lance Corporal Ted Campbell had been a good man!

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XVII**

_**Tel Aviv Airfield Flight Tower . . .**_

Ziva looked down at her watch and realized that it would be time for not only Jaron to return from his planned smoke break, it had also been longer than they initially allotted for since it put them at risk of other personnel coming to see the Chief Air Traffic Controller. She then reached out and tapped the tip of her gun against the frosted glass pain embedded into the door to

Amit, hearing the sound of the prearranged triple tap signal coming from the door, he realized that his time was almost up. "Alright Kumal – you have done well so far but if I find out later than you have uh, _for-got-ten_ to tell me anything else, you may not survive to the end of that day and I would hate to see that happen." Amit taunted the frightened man.

"Wait! I just remembered on more thing!"

Amit was quickly losing patience as he knew he must leave and soon! "Well spit – it – OUT!"

"The uh, the NTSB and some other American group called NCS or something, is making sure that no further information is leaked out until they complete their investigation, that is why I only have limited information – trust me – of this I do not lie. But it was leaked out that a dead body was indeed found on the plane after the problematic landing. We . . . we did not hear anything more - but it is rumored to be the mechanic whom had posed as the co-pilot. He - he must have panicked or tried to escape once they landed - I do not know!"

Jerking the shaking man forward until he was inches from his face, then pressing his cold gun against the man's crotch, Amit spoke, "Now I trust that you have enough sense to keep this little conversation to yourself, yes? I would very much hate to have to fall back on my promise _not_ to bring harm to you or your family, which as I am sure you already know but, we Mossad operatives do not forgive easily when betrayed and you don't have to be a genius to imagine what this gun can do if it were to be accidentally fired in the uh . . . _delicate_ position is it now in so – if you want to remain in perfect health I suggest you take this little meeting - to your **grave**!"

"Yes, yes of course please . . . please!" begged the otherwise intelligent and strong man. "I won't! I mean I will! I will tell NO ONE!! No one!" he stuttered.

"Very well then, we _**will**_ be watching you, now I just have one last question and then I shall leave you be. Do you know where the ailing passenger was taken after landing in Annapolis?"

The controller, eyes still staring down at the gun that was still dangerously close to ensuring that his family never increased in size, exhaled the breath he had been holding , "I – I do not know! I tell you the truth, I know nothing of that!"

And with that, Amit released him and was gone in seconds, leaving the shaking man alone in his office where he involuntarily felt his own nervous bladder empty down his legs from the sheer terror he felt - mixed with overwhelming relief.

Once he and Ziva had fled the tower without being seen by anyone, they ran quickly back to the Hummer to discuss the information Amit had obtained.

"I could not hear a thing through that damn door!" Ziva quickly complained, "What did he tell you?!" she began to grill him, trying hard to hide the desperation in her voice.

"Oh yes my dear Ziva - he had _plen-ty _to say. In fact I don't believe I have had such a willing informant in ages!"

He then proceeded to tell her all that Kumal had said, from the damage to the plane, to the body found in a steel drum somewhere near the airfield, but then he made one big mistake - he told her about that there was one dead body was found on the plane after it had landed. Without thinking he had neglected to first tell her that although Tony was in bad shape, he was by all accounts still alive.

Having not caught onto his own mistake, Amit just continued on but by then, his words were falling on deaf ears since Ziva could no longer focus on **anything** other than the words; dead body. Then Amit finally noticed that Ziva's face had suddenly lost all color, and that she seemed to be holding her breath, she looked as though all of the air had been sucked completely out of her lungs. Ziva felt physically ill as she took in the horror of his words . . . _'almost everyone survived the flight with the exception of one person, the dead body of a man was reported upon landing . . .'_

"Ziva?!" Amit called to her, even more concerned by the almost zombie like expression she was now wearing. She looked as though his words had left her in complete shock. "Ziva are you alright, what is it?!" his voice filled with concern.

Ziva knew him to be a far more caring man than most people gave him credit. The fact that he had somehow managed to salvage the photograph of she and her half Brother Ari as children, most likely risking his own life to snatch it from her apartment before his own handiwork caused her gas line to ignite, had only made it all that more obvious how sentimental the typically dangerous Mossad Officer truly was. She merely looked at him, speechless. Finally finding her voice she had to ask the question she was afraid to hear the answer to - "A dead body? ON the plane? Who? . . .what . . . what else did he tell you of this?" she had forced herself to put her mask back on, trying to hide the fact that she feared it to be Tony. Even though she felt in her heart that he was still alive, she just had to know for sure.

Hadar was no idiot although he felt like one! He knew exactly what she was thinking – was it her former partner? Was it Dinozzo?! He wanted to kick himself for being so stupid and for not making it more clear for her right away.

"Ziva, you must listen to me." he said as he manually turned her face towards his own, "You must not fear for the worst my dear Ziva, I am almost certain the body was that of the mechanic, the one who murdered Co-Pilot Campbell. I know this because as I was just starting to tell you, Agent DiNozzo himself was indeed ill or injured in some capacity – and he _was _heard to be in serious condition - however true that may or may not be - but there was **no** mention of him being_ dead_ – or even _close_ to dying. You **must** have faith Ziva, you must **not** think the worst."

She listened with a sense of relief intermingled with worry, relief that the dead body was probably not Tony's and yet still gripped with a desperate fear that he was still in danger of becoming one.

She was thankful that Amit had become such a good friend to her and found his words to be providing her with an odd sense of comfort, strength and hope. But what had happened to Tony? What had caused his condition to deteriorate so drastically in such a short span of time? The last time she saw him was prior to him boarding the plane, he hadn't seemed any worse for wear at the time. Her memory of her confrontation with him was fresh in her mind. '_Had she unknowingly hurt him in some way?'_ she wondered. '_Had his injuries from the fight with Michael been more serious than he had let on?' _She realized that had never actually looked at the additional medical reports that had been attached to his incident report. It had contained photographs of his injuries and the results of his emergency room visit which was per protocol and had to be documented by the ER Physician.

This was standard operating procedure whenever a Federal Agent was harmed in the line of duty. This documentation would become quite useful in court when prosecuting any criminals involved in the incident. Although in this case, the suspected criminal was dead so the information would become more helpful in Tony's own defense of _his _actions which had led to the death.

She quickly shook her head of those thoughts as she was not ready to face them. She now had to admit to herself that she had _purposely_ skipped reading the medical report. Why? Because on one hand she had been too preoccupied by bitterness and grief and had been fooling herself into believing that she did not care, that _**he**_ had been in the wrong! But on the other hand there had been a small part of her deep down in her own heart, that knew Tony had been right all along. That she _was_ being played by Michael just as he had warned and that **Tony** had been the _victim_ in all of it. Deep down she had not wanted to read or see just how badly he had been hurt physically because she knew it would cause _her _pain – emotionally. She knew that Kidon trained Michael, would have surely inflicted some damage regardless of the final outcome. She knew that Tony was typically no match for the trained assassin and would have been_ killed_ had Michael not have been inebriated!

'_What have I done?_' she said almost silently.

_**Baltimore Shock Trauma Hospital . . .**_

Gibbs had been stitched up, his arm placed in a sling that all but matched the one Tony had been sporting the past few days. It dawned on him that at one time or another, either he himself, or sometimes Tony and occasionally Tim - had one of their arms/shoulders disabled by an injury and put in a sling at one time or another. But in hindsight now it definitely happened **far too often!**

His concussion had been diagnosed as mild but the Doctor informed him that his fatigue and fading adrenaline combined with blood loss had contributed more to his passing out than his head injury had – thankfully. He was relieved when they finally released him after he had been given one unit of blood and one IV laced with antibiotics and a mild pain medication. He felt like a new man compared to how he had been feeling over the past few hours and all he wanted to do now, was get to the surgical waiting room to go over the information that McGee and Abby had collected on the case but more importantly, to wait for an update on how Tony was faring in surgery.

While Gibbs was starting to get off of the bed in the trauma room where he had been treated, Ducky appeared in the doorway as if he had materialized from thin air just in time to help his injured friend.

"Well Jethro, I must say that you look a hell of a lot better now than you did just twenty minutes ago. That IV and unit of blood seem to have done wonders! How are you feeling my good man?" he asked while going over to help his slightly unsteady friend down from the table. He was glad to see that Jethro was now wearing a surgical scrub shirt as opposed to his own ruined clothing. That change alone made him look so much better.

"Ducky, while I appreciate your help as you know I do, I am not four and I am not disabled enough that I can't get off of a damn bed by myself."

_'Ahh yes',_ Ducky thought, '_he is still most agitated._' The ME knew that the man's anger was stemming more from his worry for his Senior Agent than from anything else. He always became more irritable and antagonistic when it came to one of his team being in danger or injured.

"Alright Duck, what's the latest on DiNozzo?!"

"Yes, of course. Well, he is in surgery and has been for only 15 to 20 minutes so I suspect we shall not receive any kind of update on how it's going for at least another hour or so. Might I suggest we get you something to eat before going to join Abigail and Timothy in the waiting room?" Ducky attempted, knowing full well his friend would have none of it.

"Yeah Ducky – no. Coffee's all I need. Now let's get to the waiting room – I need to see what information McGee's gotten so far, we need to stay on top of investigation – someone sabotaged that damn plane and nearly killed all of us in the process! I'll be damned if someone is not going to pay for that!" he ranted.

"Yes Jethro, your response is just as I had expected so I took the liberty of procuring a turkey sandwich for you already – and you will do as I say and eat it, you will be of no use to Tony if you should pass out again from low blood sugar as I am sure you haven't even eaten since prior to boarding that ill forsaken plane!" this time it was Ducky whom had taken up the role of cantankerous authoritarian which only happened on occasion and usually when he felt that his medical opinion was going unheeded.

Gibbs looked over towards his long time friend with venom in his eyes - but then he slowly started grinning at Ducky since he would have expected nothing less than a demand like that from his concerned friend. He only pretended to look angry at first because he liked to have some fun with the man from time to time. Gibbs knew that Ducky would be anticipating a stubborn and angry reaction from him, but how could he be mad at someone who just had his best interests at heart.

Gibbs himself would demand nothing less if it were one of his agent's or even Ducky himself whom had been injured and hadn't eaten in far too many hours.

_**Surgical Waiting Room . . .**_

Dan Wilson felt the light touch of a hand on his arm, as he looked over to see the face of the person, he found himself staring directly into Abby's large green eyes. He found himself at a loss for words as her eyes bore into his own leaving him a little unnerved to say the least.

"Uh, hello there." he finally said.

"HI. I'm Abby, Abby Scuito - what's your name? You look worried so I thought since I am worried and you seem to be worried, that I would come over here and we could be worried – together!"

Dan almost chuckled at the way she had said that with so much enthusiasm that it seemed as though it made all the sense in the world.

"Oh, well yeah - I guess that makes sense in some round-a-bout way." he smiled, "I'm Dan. Dan Wilson." he reached out his hand to shake hers.

"We-ll, it's a pleasure to meet you – Dan." Abby replied as she all too vigorously shook his outstretched hand.

He found himself feeling so comfortable with her that he felt as though he had known her longer than he had. He also had to admit that he was a little enamored with her unusual but yet almost exotic beauty. He noticed that her eyes were made even more green by the glossy un-shed tears that were still building in her eyes as she obviously fought to control them, to control her worries and fear. She had no way of knowing that they were both worried about the same man. Fearful for Tony's life.

Abby's next question broke through his thoughts, "So-oo, Dan – tell me, who are you here for? I don't see a ring so it's can't be your wife - well unless you just forgot your ring or maybe it's your fiance' so technically not yet your wife." then stopping her own ramlbling she asked again, "Oh = sorry. So who or what does brings you to this fine, although dreadfully decorated waiting room?"

"Well, I have a feeling we are both here for the same reason actually, for the same patient. I was the pilot of the helicopter that brought Dino – er - Agent Tony DiNozzo here from Annapolis. But I hadn't even realized it was Tony until about an hour ago when we first arrived. Yeah so Tony and I used to work together when he wroked for the Baltimore PD."

As soon as he said the last word he found himself covered in a coat made of all Abby. She had instantly thrown her arms around his neck hugging him tightly – too tightly! "Uugghh–whoa-Miss I–uh -can't-breathe!" he was barely able to squeak the words out.

She immediately dropped back, "OH, Oh my gosh I am SO sorry!! I get a little carried away sometimes. Even Tony can attest to _**that – **_uhm – are you okay**_?_**!" she added, suddenly feeling so much better in knowing she had someone to wait with until Timmy returned. Someone just as equally worried about Tony!

He smiled, "No no, I'm fine, really. But I have a confession, um well I couldn't help but overhear some of what you were saying to that other man who was here a few minutes ago, I assume you are both also agents – like Tony?"

Abby corrected him and explained what her role at NCIS was and she then gave him a quick run down of each member of the team all the way down to Palmer. "Sooo Dan, while we wait to hear what's going on it would really help take my mind off of worrying about Tony if you can tell me a few things from when you used to work with him! What the heck was he like back then? Huh?! Was he an even bigger playboy than he is now? huh?? Was he still the crazy and fearless Tony that we all know and love?! C'mon I want some gossip, give me something' good! Were you really good friends with Tony? Were you like, his partner or somethin'?!!"

"Wow, I don't think I have ever had someone ask me so many questions all at the same time – and all in one breath!" he teased. "you know you really should be an investigator, I would pay money to see you question a suspect like that! They would break in seconds!" he then laughed outloud and ABby found herself enjoying the sound of his laughter which was very unique and contagious.

"Okay, well to be honest I could also use something to take my mind off of how Tony's doing too so I don't mind at all. I am sure Tony will have my head for this but - ahh, what the hell!"

"So Tony and I actually did start out as partners when we were both hired fresh out of the academy. But we eventually - maybe 2 years later, we got separated after a change in Police Chief's so that really sucked. But it worked out because we still managed to find plenty of time to hang out and get into all sorts of trouble." he laughed at the memories. "Nothing bad like illegal or anything, but usually trouble with women. We both had a tendency to date several women all at once – never settling on any one of them. I know, we were both pretty selfish to do that. I am not like that so much anymore though, I guess it comes with age but I find myself finally ready to meet someone special to settle down with. Never thought I would say that – it's just hard with all the hours I work and a lot of woman don't deal well with the whole, dangerous aspect of my job." he paused for a moment before continuing, thinking of one woman in particular whom he had lost for that very reason.

"Yes though, you are right about Tony being fearless and even rather reckless at times, but he somehow always managed to break the cases he worked on. Of course not _every_ case but I'll tell ya, it was pretty damn close! He was very much a workaholic although he would probably physically harm himself before ever admitting that to anyone out loud! For some reason he wanted people on the force to think he was lazy at times or even nonchalant about the cases, yet anyone who really knew him – like I did – could see that quite the opposite was true! I think he just wasn't comfortable with praise and stuff so, and for the most part he did a really good job of preventing that from happening. Yet it seemed that your boss, that Agent Gibbs was it? Well, he seemed to see right through Tony's charade and it didn't even take him very long to do so – nope, not long at all."

Noticing that Abby was all ears and intently focused on his story, he continued;

"So the way I heard it, there was a case involving a serial murderer whom had been killing Naval Officers in both Baltimore and DC - so it was decided that since it was a combined jurisdiction - the Baltimore PD would work the case along side NCIS but with NCIS taking the lead. I know that was hard on Tony because at that time he had become quite the lead homicide investigator on his own right and he didn't take too kindly to being bossed around by some new lead agent with NCIS. Hell Tony hadn't even considered NCIS to be serious investigators, after all they weren't cops in his mind. Does that sound like the Tony you know?" he laughed again after seeing the exaggerated look of agreement on the cute scientist's face.

"But then from what I understand, when they were only half way into solving the case - Agent Gibbs actually offered Tony a job as his right hand man to come work for him at NCIS. Tony had told me over a few too many beers that very night, that he had to admit he was growing tired and frustrated over the way the Police Department was always shooting down his ideas for undercover operations and other great ideas he had as to how to run an investigation and also his desire to re-open some cold cases we had. He felt he had no respect there so I think that is what made him go for the new job. Although he did admit to being a little intimidated – if not afraid of, the lead agent – uh Gibbs – whom offered him the position. Heck I am the one who ultimately convinced him to do it now that I think about it!"

Then Dan's mood shifted drastically from laughing at more joyous memories to a very worried expression. "Actually now in hindsight maybe I shouldn't have. I mean, if I hadn't then maybe he wouldn't have been on this case or whatever he was doing to land him on that flight from hell that nearly killed him from what it looked like to me!"

Abby's expression changed as well, partially feeling sorry for this man as he let quilt settle over him, and partially over his last statement about Tony looking half dead essentially.

"Oh, gosh I'm sorry! I am such an idiot sometimes!" Dan quickly stated as he realized what he had just said. "I don't mean to insinuate that Tony isn't going to make it, really I'm sorry, I n sure he was obviously in bad shape but it the Tony you know, is still anything like the Tony I knew, then he will fight his way through this like it was nothin'! He will be back up and around days sooner than even the best Doctor's could predict! So, is he still like that?"

The smile he was already missing quickly returned as she replied. "Are you kidding me?! If anything Tony is probably MORE likely to do that now! He's the strongest man I know aside from Gibbs! Don't be sorry, you should not feel quilty and you are crazy to blame youself in any way – in that regard I can see why you and Tony were friends, you are really a lot alike! Thanks for makin' me feel better." she said as she hugged tightly on his arm while laying her head against the space between his neck and shoulder for just a moment before pulling away.

"And thank you too Miss Scuito, you have definitely done the same for me – you really are a breath of sunshine even at a time like this!" he complimented her which caused her face to blush brightly.

Just then they caught sight of the waiting room door as it started to open. Three men were barely through the doorway when Abby jumped up from her seat.

"GIBSY!!" came Abby's amplified and high pitched voice just as McGee, Ducky and Gibbs came through the door, all looking very exhausted. One glare from Gibbs was enough for Abby to see that he was **not** in the mood to be called such a silly nickname.

"Ohh, uhhm sorry uh, Gibbs. I – well I – uhm well HOW IS HE?!! How's TONY?!! They haven't told us **anything**! I mean we don't really even know what **happened**! I am sure you are gonna tell us what happened but please tell me you know something about how he is doing, tell me he's going to be okay!!" she blurted out without even taking a breath.

"Abby please, just sit down for a minute okay?" he said with the gentle tone of voice he reserved only for her. I will tell you everything we do know but I need you to calm down. You think you can do that for me?" he asked.

The heaviness in Abby's facial expressions relaxed slightly, she then did as he had asked and took her seat. Gibbs sat down in the chair next to her and using his good arm he pulled her head towards his own shoulder where he ran his hand down her pigtails in a soothing fashion. He knew how much Tony meant to her and that she was clearly beside herself with worry. Tim and Ducky both took seats directly across from them but only a few feet away since the room wasn't wide by any means.

Then she suddenly pulled herself away, already feeling recharged by his form of a hug. "Wait, I forgot Dan! You have to meet him Gibbs! Did you know this guy was the **pilot **of the helicopter that brought you and Tony here?! Huh, did ya?! This is Dan, he also used to WORK with Tony Gibbs!! Can you believe it? What a small world huh?! He -"

"Abby! Please, I get it." Gibbs interrupted.

Gibbs leaned forward, reaching over Abby he reached out his hand across Abby to shake the man's hand. "I want to thank you for getting us here so quickly, and for waiting to take us in the first place. You may have saved my Agent's life and I don't take that lightly. I'm Agent Gibbs."

"Pleasure's all mine Agent Gibbs, like Abby said, I used to work with Tony and well, we were pretty good friends although neither one of us has been good about keeping in touch. I had no idea it was him in that stretcher though, so I was in for quite a shock once I got a glimpse of his face. Any word on how he's doing? I am not even sure I know what happened to him quite frankly."

Tim was surprised at the small pang of what almost felt like jealousy over hearing that this man had been friends with Tony at one point when they had worked together. Tim had always made it clear that Tony drove him crazy but deep down in his heart he knew that wasn't the case. He really looked up to his Senior agent since he really was good at what he did. Tim knew he was learning from the best by being lucky enough to work with both Gibbs AND Tony although he never admitted that to anyone. Now he found himself feeling almost nauseated by the feeling in the pit of his stomach. A feeling that he knew was there because he had never, ever said or done anything to show Tony his admiration and appreciation and now – he may never get the chance and the thought just sickened him.

He decided then and there that if Tony did survive this, that soon as he was up to it, he would treat his friend to a few beers and tell him how important he really was to him. Regardless of what ribbing may ensue after that since Tony didn't know how to handle heartfelt emotions very well, always joking them off just to avoid having to talk about his own feelings as well. HE was Tony's friend now and he'd be damned if this new guy was going to waltz back in and jeopardize that by butting his own way back into Tony's life, Tim would make sure he didn't!

Right after Gibbs filled everyone in on just what happened during the flight, as well as some of what went down in Tel Aviv, then Ducky immediately followed bringing them all up to speed on the injuries Gibbs had suffered and what they knew thus far of Tony's. Ducky's words were cut off when they all looked anxiously over towards the opening door to the waiting room, and spotted a middle aged woman in scrubs walking towards them, small spatters of blood covering some of the light blue material. Abby found herself unable to force her eyes away from the sight while McGee found himself doing the same thing.

After confirming that they were indeed the '_family_' of Agent DiNozzo – she continued, "I am one of the surgeon's currently operating on your friend and wanted to come out to give you a brief update on our findings and your friend's condition thus far. Since CT scans and other tests only tell us so much, we had to do a bit of exploratory surgery at the beginning of the operation just to catch and mend any bleeds or weak spots that may become potential bleeds later. Now while I do have some_ good_ news for you, I feel I must also tell you some that is not as good."

Gibbs eyes became a little wider upon hearing that, while the rest of his face seemed to almost fall in disappointment. '_What is it now DiNozzo?' _he thought, 'w_hat kind of new problems are you giving them?' _

**To Be Continued . . .**

_**Sorry, once again you know I can't resist a good cliffhanger. I will really try hard to update FAST since I know how I hate waiting when I read a cliffie!**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW :-D**_


	18. Complications!

_**A/N – S**orry it takes me so long to update. I had re-written this one somewhat three times over. Sorry if I missed any errors and I hope you all like it. It's getting tricky to write because I now have TWO NCIS fics where Tony is hospitalized and having surgery. I hope I can keep both fics unique and exciting. NOTE: Some medical facts are accurate and some I may have taken tiny liberties with for the sake of the story. So pls don't correct any of the medical info unless I have a HUGE mistake. Haha Pls send any grammar or language (Hebrew) or other corrections like that to me in a PM._

_**Thx for reading – this is an extra long chapter but let me know if you think it's TOO long.**_

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home: **_

_After confirming that they were indeed the 'family' of Agent DiNozzo – she continued, "I am one of the surgeon's currently operating on your friend and wanted to come out to give you a brief update on our findings and your friend's condition thus far. Since CT scans and other tests only tell us so much, we had to do a bit of exploratory surgery at the beginning of the operation just to catch and mend any bleeds or weak spots that may become potential bleeds later. Now while I do have some good news for you, I feel I must also tell you some that is not as good."_

_Gibbs eyes became a little wider upon hearing that, while the rest of his face seemed to almost fall in disappointment. _'What is it now DiNozzo?'_ he thought, _'What kind of new problems are you giving them?

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XVIII**

_**Waiting Room ~ Baltimore Shock Trauma Hospital . . .**_

_. . . "Now while I do have some good news for you, I feel I must also tell you some that is not as good." . . ._

The Doctor's words seemed to echo inside Gibbs mind as he felt his stomach drop in anticipation of what she was about to tell them. When the Doctor paused for a little too long he finally recovered enough to force out one word.

"Doctor?!"

Seeing the obvious worry that was so clearly evident in the eyes of the lead Agent before her, she knew what he was really trying to say with that one single word. One would have to be blind not to notice the love that this group felt towards their injured member as well as each other.

"Yes, sorry. But before I continue I should finish introducing myself, I am Dr. Pamela Archer and as I said before, I am assisting the chief surgeon with Anthony DiNozzo's surgery. Now Agent Gibbs, I know you are Agent DiNozzo's medical proxy and he has given written permission allowing us to discuss his condition with you, but I must ask you, do you want me to talk to only you about this? Otherwise I need your permission before I can discuss this with everyone here."

"No, it's fine Doctor, Tony considers everyone here like family so he will not object to your talking to all of us." he knew that he was including Detective Wilson as well but he had liked the man immediately and knew that he was trustworthy.

"Okay very well then, first I need to inform you that when we were about twenty minutes into Agent DiNozzo's surgery the chief surgeon was just beginning to assess the small tear in Agent DiNozzo's spleen in order to gauge the extent of the damage, but also to determine the severity of the tear. But before he had even started his assessment - your agent's spleen chose that exact moment to rupture completely."

Abby gasped loudly and grabbed tightly onto Gibbs good arm since she was standing right next to him. "That sounds baaad Gibbs!" she uttered with concern..

The Doctor continued as if no one had interrupted, "Agent DINozzo's spleen was already in pretty bad shape by the time he got the medical attention he needed, but because of that we anticipated the likely possibility that a rupture might occur since that organ is ultra sensitive when it gets that damaged and infected. But knowing that a full rupture is always a possibility with any injury to the spleen, we were well prepared and able to act quickly. Our only option at that point was to perform a full splenectomy." she paused to let them take the information in before continuing.

"That is just a fancy word for removal of the entire spleen. Now, the biggest problem when that occurs is that when one's e spleen does rupture, it tends to cause significant hemorrhaging into the abdominal cavity since it is essentially a blood filled organ - sorry to be so graphic. I will say this though, he really is doing remarkably well in all consideration."

Gibbs broke the eery silence that lingered in the air while the rest of the group absorbed the words she had just uttered . . . '_remarkably well_' . . . Tony was doing _remarkably well_! They all savored the new hope that her words inspired within each of them after having gone far too many hours not knowing if Tony would even make it **to** surgery – and much less, **through** it!

But Gibbs wasn't sharing in their relief because unlike him - they hadn't seen _first hand_ what Tony had gone through and just how much he had suffered. They didn't see him fading more with every passing hour, fever spiking, pain increasing, drifting in and out of consciousness and suffering from additional injuries that he incurred along the way. They also didn't know yet - that his own partner had most likely been responsible for all of it in more ways than one. That it was Ziva whom had caused the downward spiral of not only Tony's spirit, but also his health. While Rivkin may have been the one who caused some of Tony's _physical_ injuries, it was _Ziva's_ wrongful attack on him in Tel Aviv that most likely took those injuries to more dangerous heights. It was Ziva's shady indiscretion and illicit affair that had caused her partner's _emotional_ scaring and been the beginning of the entire deadly fiasco.

These dredged up thoughts combined with his own pain and exhaustion caused everything to finally catch up to him as Gibbs chose that moment to let off some very pent up steam. Unfortunately for the Doctor, she became an easy target.

"Excuse me Doc if I don't consider my top agent losing an organ and hemorrhaging to be doing - _remarkably_ well." Gibbs stated in a tone of obvious annoyance at the Doctor's failed attempts to lift their spirits. He had always been a no sugar coating kind of guy and today – was no different.

"Oh, yes well . . . I -" she stammered, caught off guard by the sudden outburst.

Ducky quickly stepped in after noticing the Doctor's nearly speechless shock over the blunt comments she had just received. He had known Gibbs for years – long enough to know how defensive and angry he became when one of his team was hurt or in danger. He also knew him well enough to know that when Gibbs was in this kind of mood, he didn't even seem to realize just how abrasive his words - and his body language, sometimes came across to other people.

"Doctor, I am sure we can all appreciate your wanting to focus on the positive here – it's a wonderful trait to be sure. But I think what my colleague is trying to say in his own – uh, unique manner, is that in order for us to best support our comrade, it is essential to Anthony's health and recovery that we are informed of all worst case scenarios as well as the best."

"Yes of course, I completely understand and I apologize. It can be hard to gauge how each group of family members or friends will react to certain news so I usually start out with the positive – but I always try to also inform them of all of the possible outcomes. Let me just finish in regards to the damage from the rupture. We had to move fast to not only extract the organ, but suction out all of the infected fluids and blood it left behind. We must be thorough in completing that process because not doing so can increase the patient's risk of developing something called - septicemia. "

Gibbs, McGee and Daniel had been somewhat following the Doctor's words for the most part, but now they were starting to struggle as she using words that had no meaning to them. She must have caught on because just as their eyes started to glaze over in confusion, she began to tone it down.

"Sorry, let me explain – septicemia is basically a fancy name for blood poisoning. It can happen when the bacteria from infected fluids that are released into the abdominal cavity, sometimes bacteria and toxins can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the entire body causing inflammation and spread of infection hence causing the patient to become extremely ill. And in Anthony's case he was already beginning to exhibit symptoms of this when he was first brought in – mainly due to the fact that the small tear in his spleen had already been allowing seepage of infected fluids to leak into the surrounding tissues all throughout the course of the flight. The rupture of course added to that.

We were able to successfully extract **all** of the infected fluids and tissue and although he will need to be closely monitored over the next 24 to 48 hours, we are quite confident that he is young and strong enough to fight off any lingering infection without _any_ occurrence of septic shock. Now there is always a risk that the patient may go into what is referred to as - septic shock – but we are doing everything we can to prevent that since if that happens, then a patient's odds of surviving, drop significantly."

Gibbs knees nearly buckled upon hearing that last sentence. In fact, ALL of them indubitably paled as well.

"We have already started him on a couple of different highly potent antibiotic treatments that have proven to be very successful in prevention of septic shock, so I don't mean to alarm you unnecessarily, but you did ask me to be completely upfront." she countered. Gibbs, whom had finally calmed down significantly – replied in a much softer tone, "Yes, that we did Doc - that we did. Agent DiNozzo is a fighter Dr. Archer, if anyone can make it through this, it's him. I'm sure you need to get back into take care of my agent so is there anything else we need to know?"

"You are right, I have already been gone longer than I planned. I just have a couple of things to add."

Gibbs and team perked up to hear the rest of what she had to tell them.

"His prognosis at this point is still very good even with the rupture, and while we still have more work to do before he is out of surgery and taken to recovery, the rest is relatively minor. We have to reset his broken arm which appears to have been re-injured at some point. We already stitched up the laceration on the back of his head and re-set some of his broken ribs. I anticipate that he will be settled in the recovery ward in just over an hour and a half." she then added one more suggestion.

"Also, if any of you are spiritual in any way, prayers right now would not be a bad thing to do for him. Now unless any of you have any questions I need to get back in there."

They all held their questions since they knew that Ducky would be able to answer them later. They all wanted her to be able to get back to Tony. After no one spoke up she added, "Okay then, one of us will be in to give you another full update once the surgery is over and he's been moved to recovery."

Suddenly Ducky blurted out one last question regarding something – or rather some_one_ - that all of them had completely forgotten about.

"Oh wait there IS one more thing Doctor if I may? Can you give us any update on NCIS Director Leon Vance? He was brought here by ambulance suffering from a concussion – oh and also the Pilot – Lt. Andrew Carver?"

"Yes of course, I apologize for neglecting to send someone in inform you of his condition. Both men are being held overnight for observation just as a precaution. They both sustained moderate concussions and other minor injuries. Just as Agent Gibbs here should also be doing from what I understand." she said in a lighthearted and teasing tone, looking rather alluringly towards the handsome lead agent.

With that the physician winked at Gibbs and left the room leaving him slightly stunned by the sudden shift in the her demeanor as she seemed to be flirting with him to some capacity. He had to agree though, she was a very attractive woman now that he thought about it. The rest of them all stood in place silently, not sure whether to be relieved or more worried as far as Tony was concerned. Abby's exhaustion and fragile emotional state simply made that decision for her as she turned her head towards Gibbs, and just sobbed onto his shoulder.

Gibbs rubbed her back with his non-sling imprisoned hand and walked her over to the awaiting chairs. Taking two seats he just held her and looked over towards his long time friend and ME. "Okay Ducky, give us a short run down in terms we can **all** understand and tell us what the hell all of that means for Tony? He is gonna be alright Duck – isn't he?!" Gibbs own voice nearly shook from his own mixture of exhausted concern as anger bubbled up inside him once again like a furnace that was about to blow. He couldn't help but wonder if there had been more he could have done to help Tony both during the flight and after, and even angrier at Ziva since it was her stupid move of falling for a rogue, murderous Israeli spy and then choosing to keep it a secret, hence jeopardizing the life of her own own truly faithful partner in the process!

He forced himself to calm down and tried not to even think about Ziva. At this moment he was almost glad he left her behind since there would have never been a chance in hell that he would have chosen her to remain on his team over Tony. Tony who never betrayed him ever and never would. He was as loyal and trustworthy as anyone could ask for in their second in command and Gibbs decided right then and there that if Tony made it through this, it was about damn time he told him just that!

"Well now Jethro you know that I wish I could just tell you yes and trust that my opinion would be accurate, but I will say this, I do believe if anyone can pull through all that this boy had been through, it is Agent DiNozzo."

Gibbs barely listened as Ducky then started translating what the Doctor had just told them, into terms that the group could better understand. Gibbs mind became preoccupied with his own thoughts.

_~Tony just __**has**__ to survive this_~ thought Gibbs. Because if he were to die, Gibbs didn't want to even_ think_ about what that indescribable level of grief would force him to do _this _time, as far as acting out on his anger towards the person or persons responsible for his agent's death, an agent whom had become more like a son to him. He knew the _last _time he felt grief and resentment of that magnitude – it had been towards the person responsible for Shannon and Kelly's death's and look what _that _had led him to do!

He quickly shook the thoughts of the bad memories from his mind, he needed to concentrate on something else before his blood pressure rose to a dangerous level. He turned his focus to helping Abby and the rest of his team in pulling together to make damn sure that Tony pulled though! He tuned back into the sound of Ducky's voice.

Ducky always had a unique way of making them all feel better, whether it was his soothing accent or the almost Grandfatherly quality he had with all of them, whatever the case he quickly explained what Tony's injuries meant and answered their concerned questions. Then they all decided the best way to keep their minds occupied, would be to focus on building a case and finding the person or persons responsible for the sabotage to the plane, the murder of the co-pilot and the attempted murder of three Federal Agents and a military trained Pilot.

_**Tel Aviv Airfield ~ Inside The Rented Hummer . . .**_

Ziva had listened intently to every word Amit had told her in regard to his conversation with the Air Traffic Controller. She had never been so thankful for her own photographic memory as she was right now. She retained every fact that he had informed her of and now needed to put them into some kind of plan of action.

"I need to fly to DC." she just blurted out after a long stretch of silence as they drove further away from the traffic tower. Knowing they needed to keep a low profile Amit kept driving with a goal of getting them off the main roadways and into some area where he could pull over and discuss their next steps. He didn't even respond to her comment until he got them far enough away from the airfield and into a place he knew to be a safe zone as far as being followed by anyone from Mossad. Putting the gear into park and turning off the engine, still silent he turned to Ziva whom hadn't uttered another word since her surprising statement.

"Okay now . . . " he began . . . **"WHAT?!!"**

_**Back at the Hospital Waiting Room . . .**_

Gibbs felt much better after getting a few more cups of coffee in him – but also from seeing how much progress McGee and Abby had made on the case. He was always shocked at what these two could uncover using just their computers – okay and maybe a few of their hacking skills.

They were again interrupted by the same female surgeon whom had been in earlier with an update, all in all the surgery had lasted just over 4 hours. They all immediately rose to their feet and met her halfway across the room.

"You can all rest easy as the surgery is over and he made it through the rest of it without any complications. He is being moved to the recovery ward as we speak. Now having said that, I do have to remind you that he is not considered completely out of the woods just yet. As I said earlier we need to continue to closely monitor his condition and his vital signs over the next 48 hours to watch for any signs of increased infection or any signs of continued internal bleeding. But we do feel confident that we were able to repair any small bleeds that he had so it's really more infection and fever that we really need to watch out for. We also haven't finished evaluating the extent of his concussion since he was pretty much unconscious for the most part prior to surgery. So we will also monitor that closely as well."

She paused let all of that sink in while she took in the grins of relief that broke out on each and every one of their faces, with the exception of their leader, the handsome man with the ice blue eyes and silver hair. He seemed hesitant as if he knew that his agent wasn't really out of the woods by any means. Call it his infamous gut feeling, or more of a Fatherly intuition – whatever it was, Gibbs just knew she had more to report.

"Now having said that I must also be upfront about a couple of things, while everyone can live a long healthy life without a spleen, they must take some extra precautions any time they come down with any kind of illness or infection – even the common cold, since their body no longer has the ability to filter out some of the more dangerous bacterias and infected cells. Illnesses such as the flu or pneumonia must be immediately treated with antibiotics and same goes for any kind of staph or other types of infections that they won't be able to fight off as easily as the rest of us."

"But, it's even more critical in Agent DiNozzo's case but only because of the damage to his lungs that he had already sustained from his bout with the plague a few years back, so therefore he -"

"Excuse me?!" her explanation was suddenly interrupted by Detective Wilson. "What?! Did I just hear you right? Did you just say Tony had the PLAGUE!! As in - that ancient illness from the dark ages?!" Abby moved over to stand next to Dan, grabbing tightly onto his arm she took charge of the situation, "Yes big D, you heard right. But look I promise I will tell you everything after she tells us what we can do to help Tony." she flashed him her brightest smile – unknowingly causing Tim to squirm uncomfortably.

"Yeah . . . yeah okay sorry Doctor, please continue. I won't interrupt again." Dan responded, standing there slightly shaking his head, he had seen his buddy get himself into some pretty insane situations before when they worked together, but this plague thing definitely took the cake!

"It's okay really, I understand. Now as I was saying, as most of you know the illness left Tony with extensive scarring in his lungs and that alone already puts him at more risk than the rest of us, if he were to come down with any lung related illness such as bronchitis or pneumonia. But now, he will need to be even that much more cautious than before and if he is as stubborn as most men I know, no offense gentlemen, then he is going to need all of you to help keep an eye on him if he ever appears to be getting sick. You must make _sure_ that he is diligent about getting his annual flu and pneumonia shots and if he shows _any_ outward signs of the common cold or develops a temperature of even 99.9 degrees, he should be given antibiotics as soon as possible and bed rest if needed to prevent it from getting worse."

"That won't be a problem Doc, I can assure you. After I get done giving Tony the direct orders I plan to give him once he recovers from this, he won't dare to so much as _sneeze_ around any of us without immediately going to see Ducky." Gibbs didn't mince words – no one including the Doctor, had a solitary doubt that Gibbs wouldn't put the fear of God into his Senior Agent. Just then the door to the waiting room once again swung open as a nurse waived the physician over to the entrance.

"Excuse me for just one minute." Dr. Archer excused herself. They all watched her as she conversed briefly with the nurse and none of them missed the sudden drop in her facial features and the slight frown that deepened the lines on her forehead. As the young nurse left just two minutes later, the doctor came back over to team Gibbs.

Gibbs was unable to ignore his still gnawing gut and wasted little time in conveying his concern, "There's something else isn't there Doctor? What is it?"

_~ Damn he's good. ~ _she thought, ~ _I must be more transparent than I realized!_ ~ it wasn't as if she hadn't planned to tell them of the latest development, but she thought she was better at keeping any emotion from being displayed so freely in her features. "Yes, you are correct." she finally answered.

She could visibly detect the obvious shift in everyone's body language as all of their muscles completely tensed up with renewed worry and anticipation. Wilson and McGee instinctively glanced at each other with concern in their eyes, both men equally worried about what the Doctor was going to say next about their friend. It looked as though they were actually starting to form a bond as they worried about their mutual buddy. They both then looked anxiously back towards the attractive Doctor.

"I was just informed that – well, there's no easy way to put this. I'm afraid Agent DiNozzo has slipped into a coma."

_. .** . Back In Tel Aviv - Alongside The Road Leaving The Airfield . . .**_

"WHAT?!!" yelled Amit in response to Ziva's shocking announcement about returning to the States.

"What?" She replied, knowing it would only antagonize the man.

"Ohhh nooo, I asked YOU first. What the hell is going through that mind of yours my chaverah?" _(means 'friend' in Hebrew)_

"Look, it's all my fault, all of it! It was MY lover who betrayed me and almost cost Tony his life! It is MY Father who also betrayed me and nearly cost Tony his life a second time **along** with my bos- Agent Gibbs!!" she defended her reasons for needing to leave the Country. She had barely caught herself when she almost referred to Gibbs as her boss. He made it very clear that he had lost his faith in her, along with his trust - when he chose Tony to remain on his team and not her. She now understood that decision and was happy that her eyes were finally open as to what she had done. Only now could she begin to repair the damage!

"Oh okay and just how do you plan to board a plane and leave without your Father finding out and stopping you? Hmmm? You have not thought this through Ziva David - and just what the hell do you plan on doing once you get there? Hmmm?!" her silence was the only answer he needed. "Yes, just as I thought! You **have** to formulate a plan Da-veed - a solid plan! Or this will be suicide!" he suddenly felt guilty as he watched her face fall in disappointment. He backed off and chose a different approach, a more sentitive one.

"Please Ziva, just b e sensible about this for a minute. I will even help you come up with a plan - although I do have one condition." her spirits immediately perked up as she waited to hear his demands.

"I am coming with you!" he replied.

They remained on the side of the road for another 30 minutes just out of sight from passing vehicles while they mulled over various plans and also determine who else they could trust to assist them, who could help sneak her onto a flight, even if she had to fly in a military plane, a cargo plane, or anything - anything that would bring her closer to finding out how her partner was doing and if he was indeed alive.

_**Hospital Waiting Room . . .**_

. . . "I'm afraid Agent DiNozzo has slipped into a coma."

Then before she could continue, she was caught off guard when the rather unusually dressed girl with the big green eyes, platform boots, black hair and matching lips – immediately started to cry. But this time it was McGee whom she clung to desperately seeking consolation and Wilson's turn to feel a twinge of unexpected jealousy as he witnessed the caring gesture.

"I'm sorry to have to give you news like that but please - before anyone panics let me explain what's going on. While this isn't exactly common - it's also not rare by any means. Given the considerable amount of blood that Mr. DiNozzo has lost over the past 12-15 hours, combined with the additional amount of blood lost during surgery and adding to that he has the concussion, fever and infection to contend with – it may just be that his body needed to temporarily shut down in order to heal. Especially when you also add the trauma of surgery, a head injury, his body's exhausted attempts to heal itself from the injuries and - his fight just to stay alive through it all."

"Have you any idea as to how long he may remain in this comatose state?" Ducky asked.

"No, I'm sorry I sincerely wish that I could. It could last one day, one month, or unfortunately longer. I'm afraid we just can't tell at this point. We can't even begin to attempt to determine that until he has been in recovery long enough for the anesthesia to completely leave his system. It can depend on many different factors - one being the massive amount of energy the body requires in order to heal itself and rebuild blood cells causing the body to shut down temporarily in order to rebuild it's strength.

"Some people say that one's recovery can also be affected by what kind of mental and emotional state he was in at the time of the injuries. Depression and stress have been proven to diminish and prolong one's natural ability to heal from a holistic standpoint. So in that case having the support of loved ones can significantly improve his chances of coming out of the coma faster. Being that he is younger and physically, that will improve his odds on coming out of the coma sooner. Now, you will all be permitted to go see him two at a time and I highly encourage each of you to talk to him – out loud. That alone can help give him a reason to fight harder to come back."

Abby perked up as her tears began to dry, "We can see him now?!! I wanna go first! Gibbs take me in with you – pleeeaaasse!" she begged with the enthusiasm of a child.

"I'll leave it up to you to decide what the pairs are. I will send a nurse in to get you in about 15 minutes since they are just finishing getting him settled and recasting his arm. Don't be alarmed by the fact that he will be sporting a larger cast than the brace he had before. Given his line of work they should have casted that arm from the beginning with something much more sturdy than the flimsy brace they had used. The radius bone can be tricky to set."

After she made her latest exit Ducky took it upon himself to again translate and calm everyone's fears as best he could. "Regardless of this latest news my dear friends, we must all put aside any fears or doubts as it will serve no purpose for our dear Anthony's recovery. On the contrary, we must encourage him to fight his way back to us and the more positive we are when we visit him, the better his chances to come out of this coma will be."

There was an obvious shift in the atmosphere of the room as they all started to feel better about their friend's chances to come back to them and soon. They used the next few minutes to decide who would be going in first and what each of them could do to help keep Tony in the fight.

The fight for a life that they all feared - he may not want to return to.

**To Be Continued . . .**

_**PLEASE REVIEW :-D I hope you liked it!**_

_**FACTS - Life without a spleen:**_

_You can live an active life without a spleen, but you're more likely to contract serious or even life-threatening infections. If your spleen is removed, your doctor may recommend a pneumonia vaccine, as well as yearly flu vaccines. In some cases, preventive antibiotics may be recommended as well — especially if you have any other conditions that increase your risk of serious infections. _

_After a splenectomy, notify your doctor at the first sign of an infection. Make sure anyone caring for you knows that you've had your spleen removed. _


	19. Visitors

_**A/N 1 - **Sorry for long delay, I am updating almost all of my NCIS fics this weekend though to catch up. Pls pray that I find a better paying job with less or no commute so I can have more time and energy to write! Thank you all for your reviews and encouragement!_

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home: **_

_On the contrary, we must encourage him to fight his way back to us and the more positive we are when we visit him, the better his chances to come out of this coma will be."_

_There was an obvious shift in the atmosphere of the room as they all started to feel better about their friend's chances to come back to them and soon. They used the next few minutes to decide who would be going in first and what each of them could do to help keep Tony in the fight. _

_The fight for a life that they all feared - he may not want to return to._

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XIX**

_**Mossad Headquarters – Office Of Mossad Director Eli David . . .**_

"What the hell do you mean you can't find them? My Daughter did NOT just disappear into thin air you incompetent son-of-a-bitch! Perhaps I have made a grave error in my judgment when I chose you to head up the search for Ziva and Hadar! So far you have done nothing by waste my time! Get out of my office – I don't want to look at you any longer!" Eli screamed at the seasoned man before him. He had been long time employee and friends with the man's large family even longer and has thought he had seen tremendous promise in his natural abilities.

He had thought the man's younger age would give him an advantage over the older and even more seasoned officer's since he had been trained in the very latest in surveillance and tracking but he was wrong.

The only Intel the man _had _been able to give him – was news that from all of the witnesses interrogated and all of the evidence the he had been able to dig up – Amit Hadar and Ziva David had left the Country – even the _time_ of their elusive departure was unclear. He just knew it was somewhere around 8 to 11 hours earlier in the day. He was beginning to get the feeling that many of his own officers were actually rooting for ZIVA rather than the Director himself.

The Director walked over to the fully stocked bar that stood over by the large windows inside his ultra plush office. Pooring himself a shot of pure Russian Vodka he threw the liquid back swallowing the hefty portion all in one swallow, grimacing as the chilled liquid slightly burned as it went down. Then pouring himself another shot he started speaking aloud to no one but himself as he stared out the window that overlooked perhaps the best view of the city that any office could have, and he made a solid vow

"Well my dearest Ziva, if this is how you want to play it, **so-be-it**. If you just had to run back to that pathetic and arrogant Italian boyfriend of yours – then I will just have to find a way to . . . _per-suade _you that if you really care that much about Agent DiNozzo's well being – then you will realize that your place is **here – with ME**! **With Mossad!**" his voice raising higher until he was full out shouting.

Then turning around quickly, he launched the expensive crystal shot glass sending the glass and it's contents hurling through the air until it shattered in hundreds of tiny pieces against the now wet and streak covered wall.

_**Hospital Waiting Room – Baltimore . . .**_

A nurse had just come into the room and announced to the group that they had finished putting the cast on Tony's arm and that they could now start to go in and see him two at a time. They had been through this enough times that everyone knew it was usually Gibbs and Abby whom always went first. Then Gibbs would stay in the room and the others would come in one by one for their own brief visit. But Abby surprised everyone with her rather unselfish statement.

"Ducky, I think you should go in there first with Gibbs. Then maybe you can tell us all how Tonys REALLY doing. Is that okay? I mean I really really want to see him but it will make me feel a lot better if I know what to expect when I go in - and I know you will be really honest with us about that. Would you? Please?"

"Abigail my dear – you needn't ask me a second time, after all, I would feel much better if I can see how the young lad is doing as well. And of course I will let you know exactly what you should be prepared for before each of you goes in to see him."

Gibbs and Ducky wasted no time in heading out and towards Tony's room. They knew he would be in ICU at least until he came out of the coma he had fallen into, only then would the doctor's be able to truly determine how the younger agent was really doing.

The nurse led the way until they were standing just inside the door to Tony's room, staring at all of the massive monitors and equipment that surrounded the comatose man and listening to the hollow sounds – then roaming their eyes until they were looking at the completely motionless man in the bed, pale and peaceful which couldn't have been further from the man's usual nature. The one sound that was eerily lacking in the slightly noisy room, was that of the Senior Agent's enthusiastic and strong voice that could always be heard chattering away in the background spouting movie quotes and titles.

Not hearing that sound, was hands down the biggest reminder of the current situation.

As they proceeded in further, Gibbs went to one side of Tony's bed, across from the side where the majority of the machines were taking up space. While Dr. Mallard proceeded to move in to stand on the opposite side so he could also check out the readings on the machines that were directly behind him only inches away.

Both men were as speechless as their comatose friend as they were both caught off guard by their own emotional reaction to the sight before them. The sight of the far too still and way too pale agent and all of the tubes, bandages, small burns, scratches and bruises sprouting up here and there and standing out more than usual due to the lack of color in Tony's skin tone. An obvious sign he had lost too much blood among other things.

Gibbs gained control over his emotions first and pushed back the memories of deja vu when he realized he and Ducky had been in almost this exact same position a few years back when Tony had nearly died from the Bio- terrorist attack that left him with the plague _and_ some permanent damage. "Duck, he looks too pale. He wasn't this pale during the worst of the plague. His skin's almost gray!" Gibbs complained.

"Jethro I can assure you that is to be expected when one loses the amount of blood that Anthony has lost. We best remember what the Doctor said though about engaging in a more positive topic of conversation so as not to upset him if he can indeed hear us somehow."

Gibbs nodded in agreement unable to take his eyes off his SFA, he looked awful. But aside from all of his various tubes and injuries what boggled his bosses' mind was the serene and almost happy look on Tony's face which served as a major reminder that he was still deep in his coma and oblivious to the danger and pain that he had just gone through and still faced once he did regain consciousness – if he did. It was as if Tony was enjoying being far, far away from the current mess and that perhaps he wasn't exactly in a hurry to come back to all of the drama and suffering. Gibbs nearly gave _himself_ a head slap for even having that depressing thought, since when did he give up on his people – Tony _never_ gave up even when death seemed inevitable with the horrible odds of 15% survival rate fighting against him!

Ten more minutes went by in complete silence as both men struggled to think of something positive to say - _**anything! **_But what did you say to an agent whom had essentially just been betrayed and lied to by his own partner whom he had trusted more than anyone other than Gibbs himself? Who then had to fight for his own life against a kidon trained Mossad killer only to find himself tossed to the wolves by his own company – a company that he had nearly given his life for time and time again – when his own Director threw him to Mossad to answer for his actions of self defense after he shot the rogue operative to death.

Adding insult to injury – he is left with a partner who just continued to disrespect him by accusing him of killing Rivkin out of jealousy and nothing more. Something that Gibbs knew had eaten Tony alive since he didn't behave that way - no matter what! It just wasn't his style. Gibbs knew Tony had feelings for his partner – deeper feelings that that of a friendship. But he also knew Tony enough that the suave agent would have forced himself to walk away from his unspoken feelings for Ziva, if he felt at any moment that she were truly happy with another man - even Rivkin. Gibbs was suddenly fired up and shaken back to his own 'never give up' attitude and finally knew what to say.

"Tony, it's Gibbs. Ducky's here too. Now I'm not sure if you can hear me right now, but in the off chance that you can somehow, I want you to hang onto what I am about to say and don't forget it! You need to fight this dammit!" he all but shouted causing Ducky's head to snap up and glance quickly at his friend across the bed, making Gibbs tone it down a bit.

"You will NOT let Ziva or Mossad win this way! You hear me Tony? You are stronger than this, I _**know**_ you are and you won't have to fight back alone – alright? I'm gonna help you, Ducky's gonna help you, the team – we're ALL gonna help you! Ya got it?"

He paused as though hoping for the miracle of hearing Tony reply, but never getting it.

Ducky decided to just add some encouragement of his own before he departed to go send Abby in. "Anthony my dear boy – another fine mess - as you would say, but no one recovers like you do my friend , you have done it before and you will do it again I am certain of it! Now you just rest and heal and when you feel ready to come back to us and wake up, we hope you do it soon. I will check in on you again later dear boy."

Gibbs smiled at Ducky before he left, silently expressing his appreciation for his friend's constant support and friendship. He then pulled over a chair to begin yet another vigil at his agent's bedside, he released a sigh of relief knowing that for the time being – none of them were in danger and no one was going anywhere for a while so he knew he could finally relax his guard for the time being. But he also knew he needed some rest of his own if anything to help the throbbing in his head and arm after having neglected his own fresh injuries a little longer than he should have.

Only a few seconds later he had already fallen asleep as exhaustion from the long, disastrous flight could no longer be avoided. Abby was next to arrive after having been forewarned by Ducky that she should prepare herself before going in, he warned her that it definitely wasn't the Tony that they were all used to seeing. As she entered the room, as loud as her platform boots were, Gibbs had not so much as flinched. But having known the lead agent for many, many years – Abby was used to Gibbs' amazing ability to sleep almost anywhere, anytime. She caught sight of him sleeping in the chair even before she had looked to check out Tony. She immediately started to tip toe in her boots even though she knew that nothing would wake Gibbs short of something bad going down such as Tony having any set backs.

Then she turned to look at Tony as she drew closer and closer to his bedside. Tears started to drop from her large brown eyes the very second she took in his gray and fragile looking form. Ducky had been right, he looked ten times worse than when he had the plague, but she knew she had not seen him during his worst phase of that almost deadly illness since she had been working so hard in the lab to make sure they caught the bitch responsible for hurting him in the first place!

Wiping the tears from her face she bucked up, stood straighter and smoothed down her graphic T-shirt so she would look less upset and more in control of her emotions. She knew if she was going to act positive and tell Tony what he needed to hear, she had to act the part physically as well so as to make it more believable since she didn't feel positive and confident about her friend's current condition. She so badly wanted to lay her head on his chest for a minute as a show of her loving affection but also hoping that the warm feeling of her own heart beating so closely to his own, would somehow get through to him and give him something tangible to fight his way back to.

She knew that because of Ziva, her friend had lost his own will to fight back anymore, and that he had also become more and more depressed throughout the entire ordeal – she knew because he had told her as much whenever he came down to her lab in search of more answers as far as just what Michael Rivkin was up to, and how much Ziva was involved and not telling them. She had watched him become more and more disheartened with every piece of evidence that she helped him uncover or confirm.

Out of everyone there, only Abby knew what a big deal this coma actually was since only she had known just how depressed Tony had become and her biggest fear was that her best friend was not even_ trying _to come back to them because in his dejected state of mind prior to the coma, he had nothing and _no one_, to fight his way back TO. She hasn't asked anyone where Ziva was since every time she thought to ask, there were too many other urgent injuries or issues that had to be dealt with and took priority over everything else. Her first concern was always for Gibbs and Tony, the two whom she had worked with and been closest to for the longest time.

In one way she was glad for her sake _**and**_ for Ziva's safety, that Ziva HAD stayed behind in Israel for whatever the reason and even if temporary - because if she hadn't, Abby knew she would have probably clocked her former friend in anger over all that she had put Tony through as of late – and Abby hadn't even been told yet about the additional physical and emotional abuse Tony was subjected to by his partner while at Mossad headquarters.

Gibbs wasn't planning on _ever_ telling her or anyone else for that matter, other than Ducky who needed to know so he could help with the effect it had on Tony's injuries. Gibbs had decided that if Tony wanted to tell anyone about it at some point down the road, it would be his decision.

She also knew having Ziva here would probably worsen Tony's condition rather than help it since Ziva had pushed Tony away far too many times and too violently that he wasn't going to come back for more this time. Abby knew that hearing Ziva's name in the past used to excite Tony to some extent, but now hearing her name could actually be detrimental to his health since she had crossed the line with her recent accusations hitting Tony below the belt with the insulting insinuation that he killed Michael Rivkin in cold blood out of sheer jealousy as if he wanted to just eliminate the competition.

Tony had always believed that Ziva knew him way better than that, so it really shook him up to find that wasn't the case. It was as if she hadn't gotten to know him at all over the past 4 years.

"Hey Tony it's me – Abs! I am just so excited to finally get to see you for myself and tell you how much I love you and need you to come back to me – to US! Please Tony, we do need you! I know you don't believe that now but that's just cuz you are sad and that will go away and things will get better. I promise! I will even pinky swear with you if you would just wake up so you can move your pinky!" she said with a laugh that came out as more of a choked half sob.

Abby looked down at her watch and realized she had been in there for 20 minutes instead of ten, she decided she better say good bye for now so another person could come in. "Hey Tony, I have to go but I will be back – and Gibbs, he's here too in a chair next to you so you won't be alone when you wake up. Now I have to stop being a Tony-hog and let someone else come in to see you, hey even your old partner from Baltimore PD is here – can you believe that?"

She then leaned down and pressed a light kiss on his forehead, leaving a very faint imprint of her lips from her black lipstick. Then after whispering that she loved him and telling him she would see him again soon, Abby snuck out and headed back to send McGee in. As soon as she was outside the sliding door to Tony's glass walled room, she let out all of the sobs she had held in for twenty minutes, the shock of seeing him so frail looking with a skin tone that was almost transparent, affected her more than she had even expected. Her sadness and worry was intermingled with her anger at Ziva for what she had put him through. It was her fault, hers and that damn family of hers! Abby decided. Then she popped into a nearby restroom to just splash some water on her tired face and clean up her running mascara, while forcing herself to get a handle on her emotions again so she would not alarm everyone in the waiting room by walking in looking as if Tony had just died – or looking as though she wanted to hurt someone – namely Ziva.

_**Waiting Room . . .**_

McGee, Ducky and Daniel were all still rifling through some of the files of evidence and reports that McGee and Abby had brought along as they tried to determine who was initially responsible for the sabotage to the plane. They all agreed that the man who pretended to be the Co-pilot hadn't acted alone and that there were bigger forces behind the entire shady operation. Someone wanted to send some kind of warning to Gibbs, Tony and Vance – or perhaps only to _one_ of them in particular. There was still a lot of work to be done and they all found it harder to concentrate due to their overwhelming worry about their injured comrade Tony, and Gibbs as well.

All three men turned their heads quickly towards the opening door of the waiting room, each man expecting it to be Abby returning since her ten minutes with Tony had turned into twenty. Both Ducky and Tm's jaws dropped open as they realized it wasn't their beloved gothic scientist entering after all.

"Ziva!"

**To Be Continued . . .**

_**A/N 2 **-I hope everyone is enjoying this and I hope where I have been taking this story is exciting and well received. Pls keep the reviews coming because they make a bigger difference than I had realized as far as my updates and enthusiasm to write better and better chapters goes. Thanks for taking the time to do that!_


	20. The Confrontation

**_A/N 1 - Okay don't fall over in shock! Yes I am posting TWICE IN ONE DAY! I wanted to show my appreciation in the best way I could think of - and that is by giving you another update! Thank you for all of the long and amazing reviews you all gave me on the last chapter that was posted this morning! I loved all of them and I love it even more when there are specific parts that you mention being your favorite part. I will add all of your user names in my next update so I can thank you all at once. But right now I just wanted to surprise you by getting this 2nd posting up as soon as I could. Enjoy!_**

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

**_Previously On The Long Flight Home:_**

All three men turned their heads quickly towards the opening door of the waiting room, each man expecting it to be Abby returning since her ten minutes with Tony had turned into twenty. Both Ducky and Tim's jaws dropped open as they realized it wasn't their beloved gothic scientist entering after all.

"**Ziva!" **

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

**_The Long Flight Home_**

**Chapter XX**

**_Waiting Room – Baltimore Hospital . . ._**

"Ziva!" Both men whispered in unison and in shock over seeing their missing teammate standing before them along with some other man. They weren't sure who the man was that came in with her, but he was dressed in similar cargo pants and somewhat casual attire so they could only assume they both had come from Israel together.

"McGee, Ducky." Ziva nearly stuttered their names not realizing just how insanely nervous she was. She didn't get nervous very often but this was definitely something that made her uncomfortable, not knowing what to expect and unsure of just how much they knew about everything that happened back in Tel Aviv.

"How is Tony?" she asked in a more monotone voice than she had meant to use. It only served to make her sound even more cold and uncaring than usual. Similar to how she reacted when Gibbs had been blown up and seriously hurt. "I only heard that he may have been badly injured but I do not have any more information than that." she explained.

But before the speechless and equally nervous McGee and Ducky could find their voices, the door opened dramatically as the whirlwind that was Abby Sciuto - whizzed into the room. She stopped dead in her tracks the second she laid eyes on the woman in front of her facing McGee.

"YOU!" Abby hollered out. "Ohhh NO! Don't you even think for one second that you are going A-N-Y-where **near **Tony Miss Ziva David! You don't deserve to have someone like him in your life! You just spit people out after you are done with them because you have NO regard for anyone's feelings other than your OWN!" Abby continued ranting, unable to stop as she was still too fired up from the pain of seeing her truly faithful friend covered in bandages and tubing and barely hanging onto life.

Ziva's eyes were as wide as saucers and brimming with unshed tears as she stood there and took in the verbal punishment that Abby was bestowing on her. Hadar was also shocked at the sudden interruption and emotionally charged tongue lashing that this oddly dressed diva was laying on his own long time friend.

"Now hold on, everyone just calm down. Please." Amit finally jumped in, someone needed to take control here and Ziva seemed afraid of everyone there, something that surprised the man like nothing else had in quite some time. "Look we are not here to make or cause any trouble – we came to help you if we can." he explained.

Tim finally regained his wits and since he had no idea just how deeply Ziva's involvement in the whole Rivkin ordeal, he did know that Rivkin had been responsible for the death of one of the murdering terrorist's that they were closing in on. He did know about Rivkin using Ziva's Internet connection at her apartment, but still wasn't sure just how much of that Ziva had even been aware of. She had always treated McGee good, almost looking after him and protecting him from the pranks of his wanna be big brother Tony now and then so – for the time being he decided to at least be civil to her until they could uncover more facts and until he could talk to Gibbs.

"Ziva, what do you mean you can help us? Help us with what exactly?" He asked. Ducky and Daniel just stepped back slightly out of the way. The few other people in the waiting room were all starting to stare and listen in so Tim made the decision to lower his own voice, hoping others would follow suit. "Are you talking about what happened to the plane that Gibbs and Tony were on?

But before Ziva could answer Abby jumped in after something huge had just dawned on her. She spoke using the most cynical and patronizing tone of voice she could muster.

"Yeah Ziva! Is that it? Hmmm? Are you here to help figure out who sabotaged the plane? The very same plane that you were also supposed to be on along WITH Vance, Gibbs and Tony but that you were conveniently **NOT** on? THAT plane? Come on Ziva, you are not as smart as I thought you were if you think that Gibbs won't see through that in a second."

"Or, are you going to say it is just a **coincidence** that your own partner still boarded that rigged plane? The same partner you were FURIOUS with and whom you accused of murdering your own murderous boyfriend on purpose due to his own jealousy! Well you know what Ziva? You need to just get over yourself cuz Tony would NEVER do that! Not ever! Tony's one of the GOOD guys and right now he's lying in a hospital room - **IN a coma – **fighting for his LIFE from injuries he sustained because of what happened on that damn plane."

._ . . Ziva took in the painful words that her one time friend was practically spitting out at her, the part that hit her the hardest was hearing just how seriously injured Tony actually was! A coma? She had no idea that it was that bad, She felt her heart sink into her stomach making her feel sick with the realization that she could lose him long before she ever got the chance to apologize and try to make things right. She forced herself to listen to the rest of Abby's rant since she felt she really deserved everything that she had coming to her . . ._

". . . and I suppose it's **_another_** coincidence that you managed to somehow get out of going on that plane at the last minute and therefore escape getting injured yourself. I mean look at you! There's not a scratch on you! Unlike Tony - who will most likely have a new scar or two to add to his collection! Well you know Ziva – according to Gibbs there's no such **thing** as coincidences! So I hope you can expla- ".

"Okay okay that will be quite enough Abigail." came the English lilted accent of Ducky's voice. He could no longer allow Abby to continue to ramble on when he knew she might regret some of her comments later on. Right now emotions were running far too high and it was just too soon in the investigation to make any assumptions or jump to any conclusions.

He also was beginning to feel very uncomfortable with the stares they were receiving from the few other people in the waiting room, not to mention Tony's former partner whom had no idea what any of this was even about.

"Why don't we all just sit down for a minute? I am sure Ziva and her . . . friend here, are tired from what I assume was a long flight. After all, we are all running on very little sleep ourselves. Ziva my dear, it is good to see you looking so well." Ducky addressed the former Mossad officer politely - his own nervousness and uncertainty about her involvement made him struggle to think of what to even say.

Abby, still huffing and puffing from when Ducky interrupted her, couldn't help herself and threw out one last retort, "Yeah of course she's looking well, it's cuz she didn't get on the plane that was wired with explosives all over the place - cuz **she** knew they were there!"

"Abby stop." this time it was McGee who rather calmly took control and stopped her before she could say anything else. The sound of her friend's voice caused Abby to look over towards him and that was all she needed to do in order to remember what really mattered right now more than anything else – and that was Tony.

"Okay Timmy, I'm sorry. I really came to tell you that it's your turn to go see him now. He's . . . " then she stopped herself this time, realizing that she was just about to mention how Tony was doing and she didn't want to give Ziva the satisfaction of knowing anything more about his condition than what she had already blurted out without thinking. When she had yelled out that Tony was in a coma.

"Well, you just go see for yourself. Be nice, and be positive okay? That's what he needs right now." she pleaded, knowing that Tim would have a hard time once he saw his battered friend. Tim immediately started toward the exit feeling slightly guilty about just how relieved he felt over leaving and getting out of that awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere. He wondered what Tony's old partner thought of the confrontation, he must think they are all crazy.

By the time he arrived outside the all glass front of Tony's room, his hands were sweaty as the gravity of the situation sunk in. Seeing all of the activity in the ICU section and taking in the nurses and other staff behind the large nurses' station where all of the ICU patients' vitals were also being monitored, it was all too clear to him just how serious a patient had to be in order to end up in this section of the large hospital.

Edging closer to the room his partner was in, Tim tried unsuccessfully to peek through the curtains that covered the sliding glass entrance to his room. He had hoped to prepare himself better by catching a glimpse of his friend before going in. After sucking in a big deep breath he slowly slid the door open and made his way to the side of the bed across from Gibbs.

The first thing he noticed was the ventilator and he immediately felt sick himself in knowing how much Tony dreaded that thing since the last time he was forced to use one – even though only for a day, it had still be absolute torture for the man. Normally Tim would have just written it off to yet another thing that Tony used to get attention, whining and exaggerating about the entire ordeal. But after he nearly died from the plague, no one ever accused him of doing that. There had been no hiding from the fact that the vent had rubbed the agent's throat completely raw while also managing to seriously scare every one of them the first time they saw him with it in – forcing all of them to realize that there was still a chance that he might never come off of it.

Tim struggled to find things to say to his senior agent on a normal day since they were so opposite one another, but now he felt even more pressured to think of something to say, especially knowing it was to be a one sided conversation. While he tried to think of something, he let his eyes wander up and down his friend's body taking in every bandage, every tube, seeing the units of dark red blood being forced into his vein through a thick needle to replenish what he had lost, and another needle taped onto his opposite arm and used to feed him IV fluids.

A nurse walked up beside him and whispered that he could remain where he was, she explained that she was just there to check on a few things and that it would only take a couple of minutes. Tim watched in anticipated fear as she folded down the thin blanket and sheet covering Tony and lowering it down to his waistline. He was wearing one of the dreadful hospital gowns but his was open in the front so they could access his incision and other injuries more conveniently. Tim suddenly felt light headed when he saw the drainage tube that was protruding from what must have been the area where Tony's spleen had been removed. The tube was attached to a sizeable pouch of some kind that seemed to be collecting blood mixed with infected seepage that had built up deep within the man's body.

Tim felt as though all of his own blood had drained out of his head as he stood there – getting more pale by the second and breaking out in a cold sweat as he watched her drain the blood tinged fluids into some other receptacle before tucking the pouch and tube back beneath some of the gauze and then bringing the blanket back up to Tony's chest so that he was once again covered and warm.

Speaking of warm . . . Tim barely noticed the feeling of iron clad hands that grasped onto his biceps from behind just as he was starting to sway.

"McGee! I suggest you let me help you over to that chair now - before you fall down on top of your partner. I think **you **need that chair right now a hell of a lot more than I do!"

Gibbs.

Tim numbly followed his bosses' instruction and allowed himself to be assisted over to the now vacant chair that had previously been occupied by a sleeping Gibbs. He felt his feet being lifted and placed onto the edge of the hospital bed which was common procedure for someone who either almost passed out, or did pass out. It helped to get the feet positioned higher than the level of the heart. The higher angle of the bed versus the shorter chair did the trick. Tim started to feel normal again to his surprise - in just under two minutes.

"Ya okay there now McGee? Should I call for that nurse to come back in here?"

Tim suddenly more than embarrassed by what had just happened, the last thing he needed was for that cute nurse to know what a wimp he was when it came to blood and gore. That thought was all it took for his adrenaline to kick in and help him suddenly feel 100%. "No, no really boss! I'm fine really. I think not having eaten or slept in quite a while just made me queasier than I expected." he eagerly explained.

"Yeah, I'm sure that didn't help." replied his boss. "But if it makes you feel any better Tim, back in my twenties it took me quite a while to get to where I didn't want to throw up every time I even smelled a little blood." the older man surprisingly admitted.

Tim sat up, letting his feet drop back to the floor. "Really boss?" he asked, "YOU couldn't handle it either? I never would have guessed."

"Yeah well, me neither McGee, back then I thought I was invincible so, to have a few specks of blood nearly bring me to my knees, I admit, that came as quite a surprise to me as well!" Gibbs added.

"Well, how'd ya overcome that boss? Nothing seems to bother you now."

"You just have to force yourself to – then you just get used to it and it's not so bad anymore. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so comfortable with the sight of a dead body or a bloody crime scene – perhaps I would have a little more compassion if I did. So don't rush it too much McGee, alright?"

"Yeah sure boss, and uh . . . well . . . thank you."

Their moment of bonding was short lived when there was suddenly a loud beeping noise coming from one of the many machines surrounding Tony's bed. Both Gibbs and McGee's heads turned to immediately check on him and see what was causing the ruckus. They were both nearly shocked off their feet when they realized – although fearful and wide as they frantically scanned the area around him - Tony's eyes were open!

**_To Be Continued . . ._**

**_A/N 2 – If it's not too much to ask for more reviews so soon after the last chapter – I still like seeing what you liked the most in the chapter and I hope you enjoyed my added treat of a second positing in the SAME day! :-)_**


	21. Reactions!

_**A/N - Alright you guys! I am posting this without fully proof reading it cuz I have to run to an appt. - I will correct errors later! I promise I will be acknowledging each and every one of you soon as far as thanking you for the truly amazing reviews! This is a short one but I will try to update again later. I am letting this story take precedence for just a little bit since this seems to be my most popular story rt now. I hope you continue to enjoy where i take you with this storyline! Love you all :-D**_

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

The bonding moment was short lived when there was a sudden beeping noise coming from one of the many machines surrounding Tony's bed. Both Gibbs and McGee's heads turned to immediately check on him and were both nearly shocked off their feet when they realized – although fearful and wide as they frantically scanned the area around him - Tony's eyes were open!

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XXI**

_**Baltimore Hospital – Tony's Room In ICU . . .**_

Two nurses immediately came quickly through the door and rushed over to check on their patient. It didn't take long to realize that the man was extremely agitated which had caused a spike in not only his heart rate but also bis blood pressure. Gibbs had rushed immediately over to Tony's side with Tim pulling himself out of the chair to stand behind his boss in case there was anything he could do to help his friend.

Gibbs carefully but firmly placed both of his hands on Tony's shoulders trying to no avail to get him to calm down. He knew from his own experience of waking from a coma with a ventilator tube in his throat, just how disorienting and shocking it was to wake up in that condition.

"Tony . . . Tony listen to me! You are safe, you are in a hospital and you need to calm down. **Do-you- hear- me?**"

Gibbs released a breath he didn't know he had been holding as Tony's glassy green eyes came to focus on his own finally stopping their wild exploration of his surroundings. There was still fear in his eyes as clear as day making Gibbs worry that perhaps Tony's memory had been affected by the coma. Perhaps he was still afraid because he didn't recognize him.

While one of the nurses ran out to have the doctor paged, the other one proceeded to inject the lightest possible dose of a sedative into Tony's IV port. It was dangerous for a man barely recovering from surgery to have his blood pressure rise to such dangerous levels and his heart rate was also not within a safe range. The increased pressure of his blood could cause complications at the surgical site among other things so they had to get it under control – and **fast!**

Gibbs finally moved his hands so he was gently holding each side of Tony's face after reaching carefully to maneuver around the vent tube. He held his face so that he was forced to stay focused on his bosses' face though he still was showing no signs of recognition. "Tony it's me Gibbs. Nod if you know who I am!" he pleaded hoping that his agent's mind would finally start to remember things.

There was no nod forthcoming which caused both Gibbs and McGee's hearts to sink as their worry increased ten fold. By now Dr. Archer had arrived and Tony was just now starting to show signs that the sedative was kicking in. His eyes became even more glassy and his lids slid down to half mast though he still managed to keep staring into the light blue eyes of the man who's face was just inches from his own.

Tony didn't remember who the man was exactly, but he knew he felt safe with him so he must be family. ~_'Is he my Father?' _~ he pondered as his groggy mind had to fight just to maintain that single thought. He could feel his body urging him to slip back into blissful slumber but something about those eyes kept him from doing just that. McGee watched his buddy's face closely trying to determine if he was finally recognizing their boss or if he was still struggling. He had a sad feeling that it was the latter of the two.

Gibbs ignored the fact that his long time agent didn't recognize him and still took advantage of the fact that Tony at least seemed to know he could trust the man before him. "Tony look don't worry if you can't remember who I am – it's okay, you will eventually. But right now it's still important that you stay calm and don't move around much – okay? You are in a hospital and you are going to be fine. Now go back to sleep and I will be here with you when you wake up next. Okay? Ya got that?"

This time he got the nod he was hoping for - slight as it may have been due to the sluggishness caused by the sedative. He breathed out another heavy sigh of relief as he watched the green eyes disappear behind heavy lids. By now all of his vital signs had slowly returned to normal as Archer continued checking on her patient - starting with his incision site. Deciding that she was happy with how everything looked she determined that no further damage had been caused by his rather dramatic awakening.

"Well Agent Gibbs, regardless of whether he recognized you or not you seem to have quite a hold over this one. He still seemed to know that he could trust you. Anyway, thank you for your help in controlling him until we could get him stabilized."

"How is he Doc? He gonna be alright?"

"It's still too soon to give you my 100% guarantee Agent Gibbs but I will say that I am very happy with how he is progressing and coming out of that coma so soon is definitely a **big** positive. The longer he would have remained in a coma, the worse his odds become as far as coming out of it unscathed."

"What about his memory Doctor? He didn't seem to know what was going on or who anyone was." McGee asked as his voice nearly shook with concern.

"Let's not get too worked up about that just yet either. It's very common after not only traumatic experiences but also with people returning from a comatose state." she explained.

"Kinda like you boss when you were in that coma. Did you ever regain every memory you had lost?" Tim asked his boss, hoping for his answer to be positive.

"Well, I suppose some things remained a little spotty, but for the most part Tim – yes I regained almost all of my memory." Gibbs had answered him in a surprisingly gentle voice, and using his first name was a sure sign that his boss was shaken up by what had just transpired. McGee decided not to push it by asking more questions. Instead he chose to return to the waiting room and allow Tony's former partner to have his turn to visit.

Just as McGee started towards the door he stopped. He knew there was something he was forgetting to tell Gibbs about but what was it? All of the commotion with almost passing out and then seeing Tony awake and fighting against everyone, seemed to have taken precedence over all of his other thoughts.

"What is it McGee?" Gibbs asked, sensing the man's hesitation and seeing the frown of deep thought on his face.

"Oh . . . well. Oh yeah I remember now, uh . . . well boss . . . uh-" He suddenly started to stammer as he realized the gravity of what he was about to say. He knew Gibbs wasn't going to be happy at all about this latest turn of events.

"SPIT-IT-OUT McGee!"

"Um well boss someone arrived in the waiting room just before I came in here. You . . . you are not gonna like it. Boss - it was Ziva." he then paused, waiting for the other cement shoe to drop.

Gibbs eyes were as wild as Tony's were when he first woke up. ~ '_How DARE she?' ~_ he thought to himself. "Why didn't you TELL me sooner McGee? Dammit, what the hell is SHE doing here!"

"Well boss I uh, well with almost passing out and all, then having Tony wake up – well I just forgot all about it I guess." he stuttered.

"Ah hell - it's okay McGee – I know. I am not mad at you, you did good. I am just angry as hell as to why she felt the need to show up here! Hasn't she done enough damage?" Look, I need you to stay here with Tony. I will send Daniel back as well. I want you two to keep an eye on him and I want you to CALL ME if he so much as blinks. Ya got that?" Gibbs barked.

"Oh, and I don't want Ziva getting anywhere NEAR him!" he added before Tim could reply. "Or anywhere near this damn WING for that matter! I don't plan to let her get past me but if somehow she's already making her way here, you have my permission to shoot her if she tries to force her way in here!"

McGee's eyes grew wide over that last command. ~ '_Surely Gibbs wouldn't really expect me to __**shoot**__ her_!' ~ he thought. He had no chance to respond to his bosses' instructions because Gibbs was already out the door and probably half way to the elevator by now.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**I know, it's short AND another cliffie – well somewhat. I know you all want to see the big Gibbs/Ziva confrontation. But I have to leave for an appt, I will try hard to update again later today!**_


	22. The Wrath Of Gibbs

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

_"Oh, and I don't want Ziva getting anywhere NEAR him!" he added before Tim could reply. "Or anywhere near this damn WING for that matter! I don't plan to let her get past me but if somehow she's already making her way here, you have my permission to shoot her if she tries to force her way in here!"_

_McGee's eyes grew wide over that last command. ~ 'Surely Gibbs wouldn't really expect me to __**shoot**__ her!' ~ he thought. He had no chance to respond to his bosses' instructions because Gibbs was already out the door and probably half way to the elevator by now._

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XXII**

_**Baltimore Hospital –ICU Waiting Room**_

Everyone's heads turned as the waiting room door was flung open with more force than the average person would have made. Most people practically snuck into the waiting room so as not to bother any family members who were worried for a love one, or catching a nap after waiting for hours to receive news.

Ziva's heart seized up the second she saw Gibbs red angry face complete with bulging veins that noticeable on his forehead as he came through the door. Gibbs looked around the room until he spotted Daniel first and went immediately over to the tired looking detective. "Daniel, you go ahead in there next. McGee's still in here keeping an eye on him – I don't recall the room number so just stop at the nurses' station."

Once he had cleared the room of Tony's friend, a move he had purposely made in an effort to keep the man out of the most recent cause of his team's dysfunction. Then his eyes moved across the room until he had captured the intense brown eyes of one Ziva David. "**David **– over there! " Gibbs demanded as he pointed out the one clear section at the far end of the room. "**Now**!" Ducky, Abby and Hadar moved further away to the opposite end to give them their privacy.

Gibbs started into her immediately after they were out of earshot from the others. Even with his voice lowered to a whisper, there was no mistaking Gibbs fury and his serious demand for answers. "What the HELL are you even doing here right now Ziva?"

"Gibbs – I can explain. I know I don't have the right to ask you for _anything_ right now but please . . . please just hear me out." She pleaded. His intense glare was her answer to continue. "Look I know it looks bad with my not being on that plane given all that happened - to not only the plane but to all of you on board. But I swear to you face to face and eye to eye that I would have gladly set foot on that plane had you not made the decision to leave me behind."

With that comment Ziva could swear she could physically feel the heat coming off of her former bosses' face as his anger towards her only worsened. "What? Look Ziva – since it's clear you have forgotten what actually happened, let me just remind you that _**I **_am not the one who made that decision! _**You**_ made that decision! The second you asked me to choose between you and Tony. Did you honestly think that I would just shift Tony off to some other team just to keep you? Did you? Tony's been watching my six for years longer than you or anyone else for that matter, and doing a** fine** job of it I might add! So no one is going to just tell me to get rid of him over some personal bullshit that should never have gone down in the first place!"

"Gibbs I – "

"No! Don't you dare open your mouth until I have said my peace Ziva."

She was smart enough to know when she should obey a command and instantly shut her mouth. She couldn't help wondering how long the tongue lashing would take since his anger seemed almost too severe to overcome - her stomach twisted as she listened to his words, all the while knowing that he was right.

"Speaking of bullshit – I now know _everything _about what you kept from us Ziva. I know more about your affair with Rivkin - and that you stayed with him even_ after_ you knew we suspected him of having a role in the death of the other rogue Mossad agent Abin Tabal! You allowed him to put you and our entire team in jeopardy with Tony paying the ultimate price. Dammit he tried to warn me and I just told him to keep tabs on Michael without really getting more details about his suspicions – I should have paid more attention to the whole situation myself. Do you realize that the worst of your _**partner's**_ injuries and the one and only reason he even hadto be operated on – was because of _your _selfish attack on him outside of Mossad headquarters? I saw you Ziva, I watched you kick the feet out from under a man with one arm strapped to his chest so he had no way to reach out and break his fall! I know you read his report concerning the incident at your apartment _– including_ the report from the emergency room doctor, so I _know _you were aware that he was hurt much more than he let on . . . to _any_ of us!"

Ziva felt dumbfounded and shocked at the mention of surgery.

"How . . . what . . . surgery?" she stuttered as tears engorged her wide eyes, spilling over onto her cheeks.

Gibbs calmed down considerable upon seeing the tough as nails woman in front of him – crying like a little girl . . . like Kelly used to. Here she was, a trained assassin since puberty who rarely showed any emotion unless it was something very upsetting - like the time she cried in his basement after he realized she had just shot her own half Brother in order to save his life – the life of a man she had known nothing about at the time – other than what little intel her Father had given her before sending her to track down Ari.

Gibbs took a deep breath and softened his voice considerably.

"Ruptured spleen. Punctured by a splinter of bone from his rib cage when a previously fractured rib broke all the way through when he landed on the cement. He was already getting ill when he stepped onto the plane Ziva, he went through hell on that flight! Hell we all did but he almost didn't make it."

Ziva stumbled backwards, her legs suddenly too weak to hold up her tiny frame. She groped backwards with one of her hands until she grasped the arm of a chair, and then proceeded to fall back into it in shock over his words. Details of which, she had yet to fully absorb.

"I . . . I – d-did this to him?" she questioned – asking herself more so than she was asking Gibbs. "He didn't cry out in pain or anything. I had no way of knowing I had hurt him like that."

"Ziva, it doesn't matter whether you knew or not – and you know Tony had become almost an expert at hiding pain from us – especially with you since he would have been angry and wouldn't have wanted to give you the satisfaction of knowing you had caused him pain. But I also don't think even Tony realized the severity of the aggravated injuries. What matters now is that Tony has more than my full focus 200%! I don't have time to deal with you right now and I refuse to allow you to be the cause of any more of his pain, you broke one of my most important and sacred rules Ziva and I do not take that lightly! So you will now tell me what you want and what the hell you are doing here!"

Ziva dropped her face into her hands, taking a deep breath she then brushed aside the moist tears remaining on her flushed cheeks and looked back up at Gibbs. "It is urgent Gibbs or I promise you I never would have come. But first please - tell me what is this rule of yours that you say I have broken? I know it may not seem like it to you Gibbs, especially now - but your respect means everything to me and believe it or not I look up to you even more so than my own genetic Father. In turn I have always tried hard to respect your rules. So please tell me what this rule is that I have unknowingly broken?"

Gibbs could not refuse her pleading eyes and gave her the answer she was seeking, "It's the very **first **one Ziva! Rule #1 - NEVER – screw over your partner! When you break a rule David - you _pulverize_ it."

She was speechless, knowing there was nothing she could do or say that would make it right. Only time would do that and only if they gave her second chance to make it up to them, especially Tony.

"I want to say that I am sorry but I know how you feel about apologies. All I can say is that I will have to earn your trust back and Tony's and I am willing to do that no matter how long it takes."

"While you are right Ziva in that I don't like apologies, this is different because sometimes there are circumstances that can alter the rules. Such as when someone is stupid enough to actually break rule number one - then an apology is a must. And where Tony is concerned Ziva, your apology better be damn good - _from_ the heart Ziva or you will have me to answer to!"

Ziva just nodded her acceptance of his conditions knowing that he was right as usual. She decided to move on and proceed with her explanation as to why she was here.

" I have reason to believe that my Father was behind the sabotage of that plane. Hadar and I have been doing some investigating of our own. I know what you are thinking but he's a good man Gibbs, he's also fed up with my Father's out of control ways. We found the body of the man who was supposed to be the co-pilot on your flight. He was killed by one of the men my Father paid to place the C-4 on the plane. The man panicked saw your flight as his ticket out of the Country and to freedom, he killed the actual co-pilot and stole his uniform – impersonating the man."

"Yeah well Ziva thanks but we already have figured a lot of that out so, you came a long way for nothing."

"No, Gibbs you don't understand – I want to_ help_ you nail my Father for this. I think I can help you since Hadar and I were able to do some interrogations of our own and uncovered witnesses and other evidence."

Gibbs had been staring down towards the floor listening. When she paused he never moved or uttered a word for quite a long couple of minutes so she continued.

"Look Gibbs - I know that you are all more than capable to investigating this yourself – **and** eventually 'nail' my Father as you say. I am only saying that I can help you do that faster. There are things you do not know about Mossad and about my Father. Things about just how deep the connections run – including the Israeli government. I also know that I was wrong, I was wrong to trust Michael and it was even more wrong that I did not trust Tony. I was wrong to keep secrets and wrong to even ask you to choose between me and Tony. I will not ask you to forgive me as I know that I need to earn your trust again first. All I can do now is to ask that you give me a chance to try and make things right - to give Tony the overdue apology that he deserves."

"I will think about it Ziva, that's all I can give you right now. But one thing I do know – is that you will not be allowed anywhere near Tony anytime soon so that apology of yours will have to wait. But I'll tell you this, it had better be the most heartfelt honest apology you have every given to anyone since your mess almost cost Tony his life! Am I clear on that David?"

"Y-yyes Gibbs . . . crystal."

"For now I don't want you leaving here, I wanna be able to have someone keep an eye on both you and Hadar until I decide how to proceed. Ziva I know it wasn't easy for you to come here and I know that you'd never intentionally hurt Tony – but you did screw up and that cannot go unpunished I'm afraid. You need to cut all ties to your Father though if you haven't already, he's bad news Ziva."

"Yes, well I have already done so Gibbs. But I will make contact with him if you get to a point where you feel it might help the investigation. I – I also . . . well I – "

"Spit it out David."

"Well I would . . . I suggest you consider assigning some extra protection, uh-m . . . perhaps outside of Tony's room." Gibbs eyes widened and his brows lifted in fear of what the suggestion implied.

"What are you saying? Will that bastard of a Father of yours try to come after him here Ziva?"

"I cannot say that with any certainty Gibbs, I just know what he is capable of and if someone pisses him off or makes a fool out of him – he doesn't take it sitting down. Gibbs you know that I was watching his questioning of Tony and I know that look I saw in my Father's eye when Tony tricked him into admitting things. Things he did not want _**anyone **_to know about."

Gibbs tensed even more, running his hand roughly through his hair as he pondered her warning. "Dammit! I'll personally fly back there and shoot him myself if he even tries to hurt Tony or anyone else on the team for that matter!" He promised – leaving Ziva to wonder is she was even part of the '_anyone else'_ now that she wasn't technically still on the team.

"That includes you Ziva." He added as though he had read her mind.

'_How does he do that?_' She said to herself just before she breathed in relief from having just gotten through the most intense conversation she had ever had with Gibbs.

_**Tony's Room - ICU . . .**_

Daniel walked into the dimly lit room after getting directed by a nurse as to where he could find his recovering friend. He spotted Tom in the chair right next to the bed before he laid eyes on Tony. He sucked in a lot more air than usual just from the shock of seeing how bad his former partner now looked. '_Hell,'_ he thought, '_he looked better __**before**__ he was treated – how is that possible?'_

"Oh, Daniel – hello. Yeah it's definitely hard to look at him like this isn't it?" McGee responded.

"Oh, sorry – did I say that out loud?" the shocked detective asked him, his voice now in a whisper so as not to disturb his friend.

"Yeah but don't worry, at least you didn't nearly pass out right in front of your boss!" a still embarrassed Tim reassured him.

"You didn't? Hahaha well yeah I suppose that _would_ be worse for sure! So how's he doing? Did he wake up at all yet?"

"He seems to be doing okay according to his Doctor – and yeah he actually did wake up for a little bit so that is good news I suppose."

"What do ya mean you suppose?" Daniel questioned.

"Oh sorry, no I mean it's great . . . it's just that . . . well it was kind of rough to watch cuz he was really out of it and fighting against everyone, even tried reaching for the tube in his throat – which I know he would have pulled out in a heartbeat if Gibbs hadn't caught him so quickly. He . . . well he just seemed scared, almost panicked, and I have never in all my years of working with Tony, not once have I actually seen him act scared. Tony usually isn't afraid of anything."

"Yeah I know what you mean. He was the same way when I worked with him. I always figured it was due to what he endured at the hand of his Father. After years of being afraid of your own Father for Pete's sake – enduring years of emotional and physical abuse – well, I guess everything else dangerous just paled in comparison. I mean geez, a man should be able to trust his own Father not to hurt him ya know? It just ain't right"

McGee sat there stunned while listening to Daniel's recounting of Tony's past abuse. He was sure that Daniel just assumed that Tim knew all of this and - even though Tim and the rest of the team had all had had their suspicions that Tony's Father had been abusive to him, just based on little details Tony would just let slip here and there – none of them had any idea just how bad it the abuse had been, or just how long Tony had been forced to ensure it. He was sure they were all just hoping that it was minor and hadn't been recurring. It was hard to think of the overly confident and brave man they knew – to have ever been afraid of anyone or anything. Tim knew that was why none of them ever broached the subject with Tony – they were all afraid to find out it was worse than they had imagined.

"Uh, yeah . . . it's not right that's for sure. But Tony would kill us right now if he could hear us being so somber. We really should just speak of positive things just in case he can hear us now and then." Tim advised.

Daniel grabbed another chair that sat near the window that looked out on hallway and nurses' station. Pulling it over on the same side as Tim's, he sat quietly down next to him. He was then able to get a closer look on Tony's injuries and monitors, cringing when he spotted the small burns, bruises, scratches and lacerations that adorned his face and arms.

"Damn just what the hell happened in that plane for cryin' out loud? You guys definitely have a more dangerous cases than we get at Baltimore PD!" Tim stood up and decided to give Daniel some time alone with the friend he hadn't seen in years.

"Hey I need to see if I can grab some water or coffee or something from the Nurses' station – you need anything?"

"No, I'm good thanks Tim." Daniel didn't have to be a detective to figure out what Tim was really doing, but he appreciated the nice gesture for what it was. Giving him a moment of privacy to talk to his friend and try to do his part to lure him back to consciousness and life.

"Hey buddy. Dino it's me, Dan-o. Remember me? Your old partner from Baltimore? Man we were **unstoppable** back then weren't we? Dino and Dan-o the 'Dynamic Duo of Detectives' as you always said. Over and over and over. Hahaha!"

Daniel had a very contagious guffaw that Tim and any of the medical staff could hear though they were all the way into the hallway, causing all of them to look in that direction with curiosity as to what was going on in the room with the critical Federal Agent. Usually there was not much laughing going on in ICU so they found it rather refreshing. The medical staff just smiled, they knew that laughter was healing not just to those doing it, but quite possibly getting through to the subconscious mind of the man in the hospital bed – so they just turned their focus back to their jobs leaving the men to their visit.

Tim felt another small twinge of jealousy when he heard Daniel laughing. Had Tony woken up? He secretly hoped that wasn't the case since he felt that _**he**_ should be the one there when Tony came around again - not Daniel whom Tony had barely even mentioned before. He walked to a bench sitting along the hallway wall and sat down, giving Daniel a few more minutes along with Tony before he went back in.

Daniel wrapped his hand gently around a space on Tony's arm that didn't have a needle or bandage to get in his way, continuing his once sided conversation with the pale man. "Yeah good times! Remember though, the captain had his own title for us – ya remember what that was? He called us the 'Dangerous Duo of dead weight.' Hahahaha – not nearly as catchy as ours but hey – he did his best.

"Now seriously though – I need you to listen to me buddy. I haven't seen you in too many years – sure I know we talked now and then and damned if some of those email jokes we had going we not the funniest things ever, but now that fate has thrown us back together for some reason -and I'm not about to go back to Baltimore til I get to hear that smart ass mouth of yours **telling **me to go back! Got it?"

Daniel stared intensely at Tony's face, praying for any sign that he could hear him or something. Suddenly he caught the very subtle movement of Tony's lips as they almost seemed to curl up at the edges slightly as if attempting to smile.

"Dino?"

He waited for a few more minutes when he had to admit his friend was most likely not ready to wake up again for a while. So he decided to go back to his chair just as Tim came back into the room.

Handing Daniel a cup of cold water Tim informed him that he was going to run back to the waiting room since he knew Gibbs probably wanted him to work a little on the case while they waited for Tony to get to where the Doctor announced that he was officially 'out of the woods'.

"So - Daniel can you just stay in here and keep an eye on him until Gibbs gets back? So how long can you stay anyway? Do you have to get the chopper back or anything?" Tim asked him.

"No, I already contacted my station and told them I was taking some personal time. I talked to my Captain, same man who was Captain when Tony worked there. He liked Tony, hated to lose him when he accepted Gibbs offer to work at NCIS. But he gave me his approval to stay as long as I need to and said I can offer my assistance to you guys as well as that of the Baltimore PD if needed. In fact, do you guys need me to secure some security patrol officers? I would assume that whoever sabotaged that plane would still be after Tony and Gibbs – especially since they survived."

"Yeah well thank you for the offer. I could definitely use your help with the investigation since Gibbs will insist on being in here with Tony and Tony, well . . . – but as far as protection, from what I understood, the damage to the plane was only meant to scare them and also as a warning that you don't mess with Mossad. But I don't know that there is an actual 'hit' out on Tony and/or Gibbs. I will mention your offer to Gibbs though and let you know what he says. Thanks for the help man, really. I can see why you and Tony worked so well together."

With that Tim exited the room leaving Daniel to watch over their mutual friend.

_**Meahwhile back in the waiting room . . .**_

By the time arrived in the room, he spotted Gibbs having what looked like a heated talk with Amit Hadar at the far end of the room. Once he had finished with Ziva, Gibbs sent her back to the other end and told her to send Amit over. With him, Gibbs only meant to put the fear of God in him and let him know that if he was lying or deceived them in any way, that Gibbs would not hesitate to shoot him. But after listening to what the man had to say about just how disgusted he had become over Eli's behavior as of late, and how he no longer wanted to be associated with a man like that – and stating all of it while looking Gibbs directly in the eyes gave him even more credibility – especially when he gave his word that he would not screw them over or betray them in anyway in return for his own protection since Eli would quickly put a hit out on him for his involvement in Ziva's escape.

Then and only then did Gibbs decide he was telling the truth and the men shook hands in agreement that they would work together for Ziva's sake. The two men walked back to the section where the others waited patiently. Gibbs announced what he had learned from Ziva and Amit and started doling out orders so that he could get back to his agent's side.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**I already have the next chapter practically done so I might try to post it later today or at latest tomorrow evening. Please read and review. Thank you**_


	23. Making Progress

_**A/N - **This is the LONGEST chapter so far though so hopefully that makes up for the long wait! Pls excuse any remaining errors - I ILLF :-)_

_Please just enjoy and please review. I thank all of you whom have been so great about reviewing. Those really encourage me and get me excited to write more!_

_ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

__

By the time arrived in the room, he spotted Gibbs having what looked like a heated talk with Amit Hadar at the far end of the room. Once he had finished with Ziva, Gibbs sent her back to the other end and told her to send Amit over. With him, Gibbs only meant to put the fear of God in him and let him know that if he was lying or deceived them in any way, that Gibbs would not hesitate to shoot him. But after listening to what the man had to say about just how disgusted he had become over Eli's behavior as of late, and how he no longer wanted to be associated with a man like that – and stating all of it while looking Gibbs directly in the eyes gave him even more credibility – especially when he gave his word that he would not screw them over or betray them in anyway in return for his own protection since Eli would quickly put a hit out on him for his involvement in Ziva's escape.

Then and only then did Gibbs decide he was telling the truth and the men shook hands in agreement that they would work together for Ziva's sake. The two men walked back to the section where the others waited patiently. Gibbs announced what he had learned from Ziva and Amit and started doling out orders so that he could get back to his agent's side.

_~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XXIII**

_**Baltimore Hospital – Gibbs' thoughts as he walked the long hallway from the waiting room to ICU . . .**_

Once Gibbs had finished loading everyone up with enough work to keep them very busy, eager to get back to Tony's side hopefully before he woke up again. He knew he had to take care of business first before he could fully be there for Tony, part of that business was to confront Ziva and Amit and determine the real reason they had showed at the hospital up out of nowhere. Another part of business that was equally as important - was to get things moving on the case before they allowed any more precious time slip away.

Gibbs knew better than anyone that the first 24 hours after a new crime or opened case, was the most critical time and after that timeframe, the odds of solving the case became worse and worse. He also hoped that by getting everyone to divert their attention on all of the work he had just forced on each of them including Amit whom would be helping Ziva to type up a full report using Abby's laptop since she would be so busy with lab work that she wouldn't need her computer for a little while.

The report was to bring Gibbs up to speed on what they had uncovered thus far during their own investigation while back in Israel. When they had given Gibbs just a quick debriefing he had been impressed by how much they had been able to uncover in such a short amount of time. Gibbs could only hope that the overwhelming work load they now had to tackle would at least help redirect their focus and temporarily take their mind off the immense worry they were all feeling over their ailing teammate who was lying just down the hall in ICU – and was still not out of the woods by any means.

But the most important reason he had to get them all working now was because he knew they needed to start making faster progress on the case of the sabotaged plane since they still didn't have any significant proof that Eli David was directly involved and responsible for this whole unfortunate mess.

A courier had delivered some boxes filled with pieces of debris from the plane, more specifically the parts that were believed to be associated with the bombing devices that were placed on the various parts of the plane. The team that has been assigned to process the plane, or the crime scene in this case, had been instructed with the threat of being shot – to get as much of the evidence delivered to the hospital so the infamous 'Team Gibbs' could decipher and dissect it to help them find a connection to Israel and Mossad if they could.

Since they were all in Baltimore and hence far from their own office and labs – Abby had been authorized to take advantage of the impressive lab at this teaching Hospital and if there was any equipment not at her disposal there, Daniel had assured them that he would secure whatever they needed to do their jobs as effectively as possible. He was determined to help them nail whoever had been responsible for putting his friend in the unthinkable state that he was currently in.

Gibbs picked up his pace to get to Tony faster, he knew he had to be there when he woke up again if anything to help him keep from panicking again like he had done before.

_**Hospital hallway - Flashback to McGee's thoughts as he walked the long hallway from ICU to the waiting room . . .**_

McGee had taken his time walking from Tony's room to the waiting room where he knew everyone would be anxiously waiting for any update on their friend's condition. He just needed a few minutes to himself since he hadn't been allowed that luxury since this whole mess started to unravel. During his slow walk down the hallway he couldn't help but wonder what exactly had happened in Israel to cause his boss to leave one of their long time and seemingly dedicated teammates behind.

Tony had tossed him some generic reason saying that Ziva must have decided she wanted to go back to working for her Father for a while due to all that had happened over the last few weeks, but there was something in his partner's eyes that told another story. Tony's eyes had a vacant, almost grieving look to them and now that Tim thought about it, Tony hadn't looked him in the eye once while giving him the bogus explanation.

He then thought back to all of the incriminating evidence that they had found against Ziva that did make it look like she was somehow either helping Rivkin with his mission,** or** - that she was so in love with the man that she underestimated just what he was capable of and hence had no knowledge of his rogue status. Now Tim was even more confused – was he mad at Ziva for what she did and how it affected Tony? Or did he feel empathy towards her because of her love struck naiveté.

Once he was ready he had entered the waiting room and his stomach clenched nervously when he spotted his boss still engaged in a rather serious conversation with Ziva and her friend Amit. Abby had jumped up from her seat near Ducky and greeted Tim halfway between their seats and the door.

"Timmy how is he? Is he any better? Did he wake up again? Did you talk to him?" By the time she finished rattling off her speed version of twenty questions she was already gripping the un-zippered edges of McGee's casual jacket tightly, almost begging him to answer her just as quickly.

"Abs slow down. He's . . . he's - doing okay." He finally replied though not with much confidence.

Abby's expression instantly turned sour and her voice went down several octaves to slightly more than a whisper. "Just okay?" she asked. "He's just okay McGee? That's not enough for Tony – I mean when Tony is just okay then he's not Tony!" She leaned forward and allowed him to pull her into a gentle hug, rubbing his hand slowly up and down her back for comfort while she released a couple of quiet sobs followed by sniffles as she fought back the tears that she had been holding in for hours as she tried to remain strong. Standing more upright she bucked back up as she already felt better just having allowed herself a moment to release some tears and enjoy McGee's comforting hug. Then she literally pushed herself back from McGee and surprised both Ducky and Tim with her obvious change of attitude.

"Okay, that's enough – I need to be positive. Tony would be positive if it was any one of us lying in that hospital bed! In fact Tony would be making all of us laugh just to ease our minds! But come on McGee - you were in there for a while so you gotta give us something. So **spill!**"

By now Ziva had been sent back to their end by Gibbs so that he could have a private one on one with Hadar. Tim found the three of them, Abby, Ziva and Ducky all staring back at him and waiting. Waiting for him to give them any new update on Tony's current condition, hoping for something, anything positive that they could hold onto until they could finally see him again for themselves.

_**ICU Wing . . .**_

The medical staff breathed collective sighs of relief when they spotted the handsome lead NCIS agent returning to Agent DiNozzo's room. They had all been well aware of the rather amazing way he was able to calm their patient down any time that he had become agitated and knowing that undue stress like that could be detrimental to a patient's health, they were more than willing to break the rules by allowing this visitor to remain in Agent DiNozzo's room no matter what time of day of night it was or how long he had to stay.

Once Gibbs entered the room he immediately demanded that Daniel give him a full report of every twitch, involuntary muscle movement or signs of waking up that Tony had made. Daniel liked that Tony's current boss spoke to him as directly as if he were part of his team. Gibbs was disheartened a little when the Baltimore detective stated that Tony had remained just as still as he was now. But once Daniel spotted the disheartened look on the face of the tired man in front of him he spoke up again but this time he tried to sound more positive.

"Uh, I'm sure that is just due to the heavy amount of drugs that are still being pumped through his system Agent Gibbs sir. It's probably best that he doesn't move much anyhow, and that he sleeps as much and as long as possible. I'm sure he will come around as soon as they are able to start reducing the dosages."

Gibbs knew what Tony's former partner was doing but instead of calling him out on it he decided to just thank him – for watching over Tony's six until he returned and for a job well done. He then sent him back with instructions to see McGee for instructions on how he could help with the investigation – at least until Gibbs no longer needed to constantly remain by Tony's side.

"Oh and Daniel, tell McGee that I expect a full report upon the hour and tell him I said that I better not have to come looking for him to get it! Got it?"

"Oh uh yes sir, of course – I got it. Anything else?" he nervously asked, then after seeing Gibbs shake his head in response, not wanting to take his eyes off of Tony's still form for a second, Daniel just quietly exited the room to head back to the others.

Gibbs stared at Tony's face for a few long minutes and if not for the bruises and small cuts that adorned his face here and there, one would swear that he was merely sleeping. When Gibbs finally turned to resume his usual seat next to the bed, he couldn't help but smile at what he saw in front of him. He had been so preoccupied getting a report from McGee and then checking out Tony's condition, he hadn't even noticed the new arrival.

A very nice, cushioned chair stood before him in the spot that used to be occupied by a much harder and uncomfortable plastic chair. Gibbs knew then that the medical staff had made very good use of his time in the waiting room, and had brought in a much more comfortable chair for him to use while watching over Tony's six. What he _didn't_ know was that the staff had done so because they had been so grateful to the worried and exhausted agent that they wanted him to be as comfortable as possible so he could continue his watch over the man he obviously cared for like family, while not aggravating his own injured arm by having to endure the hard plastic chairs that were never good for anyone.

Gibbs took note of the almost VIP treatment that both he and Tony seemed to be receiving and couldn't help but wonder if the beautiful Dr. Archer may have been responsible for arranging the special treatment. He definitely planned to encourage Tony not to make any of his suave moves on her once he was coherent enough to flirt – which Gibbs knew Tony had the talent to do even when half out of his mind in a drug induced fog. Even his inability to speak at the moment would not deter him if he found something (or someone) he liked.

He paused for a few seconds at each tube, bandage and bruise that his senior agent was now garnished with. '_How had it even come to this_?' he thought grimly, it was only a few days ago that everything seemed normal with the exception of Ziva's uncharacteristic behavior.

Gibbs thought back to his recent conversation with Ziva and then his mind drifted back to that fateful night when everything seems to unravel and come to a head - the night of Tony's death fight with Rivkin.

From the moment Tony had first called him from the hospital emergency room with the news of what had just gone down at Ziva's apartment, to his record time of fourteen minutes later when his car came to a screeching halt outside the emergency entrance – Gibbs thought back to the moment when he first approached Tony from behind in the ER hallway, making every effort not to startle his obviously distracted and distraught senior agent in the process.

He hadn't given it much thought at the time due to everything that was going on – but now he realized just how easily Tony had diverted his attention that night, knowing full well that whenever one of the team was injured in the line of duty or otherwise, Gibbs _always_ insisted on not only knowing exactly what the injuries were followed by immediately demanding a full report straight from the attending doctor's mouth.

As Gibbs thought back on that moment in the hallway, he realized how quickly Tony had rattled off his injuries before Gibbs could even ask him – once again anticipating his bosses' unspoken question just as he had trained them to do. But Tony had all too quickly dismissed his injuries - saying it was nothing more than - '. . _. fractured radius and_ a _couple'a bruises . . .' _

Normally Gibbs ignored any reporting of injuries his agents gave him in a situation like that, turning immediately to find the physician on call. Why he didn't continue that tradition _that _night he couldn't explain - but he was kicking himself for it now although deep down he knew he had foolishly let his attention be diverted when he spotted who Tony had been watching through the window of the hallway door - Ziva. He then thought back to how Tony seemed during the hours following that hospital conversation, sure he had seemed tired, stressed and Gibbs had caught him making occasional grimaces from pain when he thought no one was looking – but other than that he didn't seem bad enough to have any hidden internal injuries slowly trickling away inside.

Gibbs recalled that the moment he first noticed that his Senior Agent was really starting to falter and was also becoming more pale by the minute ever since his altercation with Officer David outside Mossad headquarters. Gibbs was known for being a man of few words but there was no one anywhere more observant than he was – no one. After silently monitoring Tony's movements and demeanor the rest of the afternoon There was no doubt in his mind that the jarring impact of hitting the harsh cement landing after Ziva had cruelly kicked his feet out from under him – giving the single armed DiNozzo no chance of catching his own unanticipated crash landing. Gibbs seethed with anger, sitting up straighter in his chair to inhale a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down.

He had always had a soft spot for the somewhat confrontational Israeli woman, feeling as though he had to protect her from herself much in the way that a Father might, much in the way he would have taken care of Kelly had she not been taken from his life so tragically early. He had no choice when Ziva joined his team after having the Mossad officer forced on him by Jenny – his superior at the time. But after she shot her own half-Brother to save Gibbs life that night in the basement not soon after joining his team, Gibbs suddenly felt an unspoken bond with her that made him accept her onto his team with open arms.

But now, now she was off the team just as quickly he thought, remembering back to the moment at the airfield when she had forced him to choose between picking Tony to leave – Tony, his loyal St. Bernard, his second in command and longest standing member of his team who always had his back no matter what harm might come to himself - or picking _**her**_.

There had been was no thought required on Gibbs part upon being given a choice that was so ludicrous - as he kissed her on the forehead and wished her all the best, turning to leave her standing shocked in his wake as he headed towards the awaiting plane.

One thing that hadn't escaped Gibbs notice at the time was the smug look on Eli David's face as he stood lurking in the background. That was the very moment that Gibbs came to realize that _**he**_ had been the one behind Ziva's ridiculous demand - knowing full well that there would be no way the lead NCIS agent would allow his long time and best senior agent be transferred off his team over **Ziva. **Ziva**, **who had done _nothing_ to prove her own loyalty in any way – in fact, if anything quite the _opposite_ was true.

If he had known of Tony's worsening condition at that time, a condition that _**she**_ had caused – Gibbs knew that their parting on the runway would not have been so tender - and _that_ . . . he knew for sure. But before he could allow his anger to boil over any further – Gibbs sat up straighter in his new chair as his ears detected the slight increase of the beeping heart monitor as it signaled that the slumbering patient was most likely getting close to coming around again.

Jumping up from his new chair a little too quickly, Gibbs swayed on his feet as the blood rushed from his own injured head. Cursing himself for being so stupid, knowing the dizzy spell was also due to the blood he had lost, he waited for the room to stop spinning before he proceeded in moving closer to Tony's side to take his place near the head of the bed. Grabbing onto the hand of the man who had become as close as a son to him and squeezing his fingers as if trying to give Tony something to cling to and use to pull himself back to full consciousness.

A painful moan escaped from Tony's mouth in spite of the obtrusive ventilator tube blocked any actual speech. His eyes remained screwed tightly shut in obvious agony another sure sign that he was coming around again. Gibbs quickly pressed the call button to alert the staff that Tony was waking once again, while he continued talking softly next to Tony's ear in an effort to coerce the man he loved like a Son, into waking all the way up – but hopefully without panicking this time.

"Tony . . . Tony can you hear me? It's Gibbs and . . . I . . . need you to wake up now. Everything is fine and I gotcha so all you need to do is open your eyes. Can ya do that for me?"

Gibbs was not prepared for the onslaught of emotion that suddenly swept over him when he found himself looking at Tony's now open, green eyes. The emotion he was overcome with was caused by the immense relief he felt since the last time he saw those expressive eyes open, they had been filled with so much fear and rage along with the pain. His relief was due to the fact that now – those eyes were clear . . . and calm.

_**[Tony's POV]**_

Buzzing, beeping and clicking – that was all that he could hear.

Overwhelming, mind numbing pain and the feeling of pressure in and on top of his chest as well as the sensation that he was choking or had something lodged in his throat - was all that he could feel.

Then as he came closer and closer to full consciousness his ears picked up on the faint sound of a voice – a voice that was quiet yet somehow loud enough to break through the intrusive background noises and capture his full attention, though in his confused daze he could only comprehend every so many words.

"_. . . hear me? . . . Gibbs . . . gotcha . . . open y'r your eyes for me"_

_Tony tried hard to decipher the butchered phrase, a frown appeared on his forehead from frustration over not feeling like his brain was functioning properly. He tried so hard to do what was asked of him, tried to open his eyes. "C'mon man." _he thought to himself_, "just open them! It's not a hard task - you've done it a million times before."_

He felt as though the connection from his brain to his body was sluggish and delayed. It seemed to take his body a lot longer than normal to complete any of the tasks that his brain was commanding. But finally, slowly his body started to cooperate and he felt more and more coherent. First he was able to test the waters and get his eyes to blink a few times though even a simple blink of his eye was a struggle. He felt like his eye lids were made of lead, exhausting him in seconds from a movement that normally would occur without him realizing he had even blinked.

Once he was able to keep his eyes open all the way he found himself staring up at a very white ceiling which he continued staring at while he tried to unravel his muzzled mind and understand what was going on around him – or where he even was. Snapping him out of his daze was that voice again. Soothing in its calm tranquility yet somehow demanding at the same time.

"Tony?" . . .

. . . "DiNozzo listen to me. You're in a hospital but you are going to be alright. Ya hear me? Tony?"

Slowly he tried turning his head in the direction of the familiar tone of the voice but something prevented him from moving much at all. That's when he first noticed the obstruction in his mouth and airway and once again started to panic from not understanding what that obstacle was and just what was going on overall. Suddenly his body chose now to allow him to move a little better, unknowingly fueled now by pure adrenaline as it rushed to his heart and spread from there. He tried to sit up only to be met with unbearable pain causing him to call the mere inch or two that he had raised up from the pillows.

That was all it took, just under two inches for him to feel as much pain as if he had bolted all the way up to a sitting position. The face of the man whose voice he had been hearing finally appeared above him while the man's strong hands held his shoulders – unbeknown to him, just like Gibbs had to do the last time Tony had awoken.

"TONY dammit! Calm down and stop moving around - that's an **order**!" Gibbs shouted, louder than he had planned just from the shear worry that Tony would cause more damage to his already injured body by moving when he shouldn't and risk hurting himself further or dislodging something like an IV or a drainage tube. Even semi-conscious Tony still seemed eager to follow whatever orders his boss threw at him because this time Tony stopped moving immediately upon hearing the demand.

As Tony heard the shouted order he froze on the spot. What was it about this man that had him obeying him like a trained animal? He thought. But as he lay there, trying to control his breathing that at the moment seemed to be all over the place – he finally recognized the bright blue eyes of his boss staring back at him with fear and worry etched into is entire face. He didn't recall ever seeing that kind of look in his bosses' eyes before and it unnerved him to think that he was the cause of such a grief stricken stare. He wanted so desperately to say something to ease his mentor's mind but knowing that was impossible with the tube in his throat. He knew he had to somehow let the man know he recognized him finally, having only his facial expressions to express himself he widened his eyes a little more and barely nodded his head up and down hoping that Gibbs would get the message.

_**[End of Tony's PO]**_

Gibbs could tell the very second that Tony's eyes went from cold and icy fear, to the warm relief of recognition and found his own heart melting from the warmth. He found himself getting choked up with emotion for the second time in a matter of minutes - but at the same time he found it oddly comforting, probably because it was the way his deceased wife and daughter used to make him feel at times simply from the overwhelming intensity of which he had come to love them and he missed having people in his life that he cared about _that _much.

"That's it Tony, good job. Now listen, I need you to stay still alright.? I've got to call to get the Doctor in here so she can check you out."

Then Gibbs actually smiled full on and even chuckled out loud when he barely caught sight of Tony as he waggled his eyebrows so slightly that Gibbs almost missed the familiar _'DiNozzo gesture', _which in translation meant that his girl crazy agent had picked up on the fact that his doctor was of the female gender.

Tony smiled back as best he could despite the ridiculous pain that was surfacing more every second, he wanted to ease his bosses' mind and send him that message to let him know he was okay so far.

He felt himself starting to panic again when his bosses' face disappeared from his limited view. He tried to focus all of his energy on breathing through the fear and the pain. Even though he still had the assistance of the ventilator helping him do so, it wasn't doing ALL of the work. Then just as quickly as Gibbs' face had disappeared – to Tony's relief his bosses' face just as quickly reappeared as he leaned back over Tony to make sure he knew that he hadn't gone far. Tony relaxed subsstantially, he figured Gibbs had just moved away so he could use the call button on the wall behind the head of his bed since once Gibbs told you he had your six, he didn't go far - no matter _what_ type of situation tried to lure him away.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**A/N**__ - Sorry again that I didn't get this posting up as fast as I had planned. Nothing went right this week where this chapter was concerned. Please keep up with the great number of reviews and know that I appreciate all of you who take the time to do that! I hope you are enjoying the story and I will do my best to get another update out this week. _


	24. Coming Around!

**Chapter 24: Coming Around!**

**Author's Note - **Hi all - I think this has been my longest delay in updates and especially on this particular story. My apologies but there is some good news to add - I am finally most likely losing my job tomorrow or Tuesday so I will finally be free of the nightmare stress, long hours plus the terrible and long commute! THEN I will have more time to write and not be too exhausted to do so. I won't have a computer for a week though since mine is in the repair shop. But then I will be back on track and writing with a vengeance! Thx for all of your awesome reviews and support! Enjoy this chapter - it's shorter than my usual but it's ALL 100% Tony/Papa Bear Gibbs H/C!

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_ _Tony smiled back as best he could despite the ridiculous pain that was surfacing more every second, he wanted to ease his bosses' mind and send him that message to let him know he was okay so far. He felt himself starting to panic again when his bosses' face disappeared from his limited view. He tried to focus all of his energy on breathing through the fear and the pain even though he still had the assistance of the ventilator helping him do so. Then just as quickly as he had disappeared – to Tony's relief Gibbs face reappeared as his boss one again leaned over Tony._

_He knew that Gibbs had most likely just used the call button on the wall behind the head of his bed since once Gibbs told you he had your six, or was watching your back – he didn't go far no matter what type of situation tried to lure him away._

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**The Long Flight Home**_

**Chapter XXIV**

_**Baltimore Hospital – Tony's Room in ICU . . .**_

Tony's chest visibly deflated in relief when Gibbs' face returned into his limited line of sight, but his relief was short lived as the unbearable pain spiked from what felt like nearly every cell of his being.

Gibbs did his best to keep his man calm until he heard the welcoming sound of the sliding door leading into Tony's room could be heard only minutes after he pressed the call button. Briefly turning his head in the direction of the noise - Gibbs let out a sigh of relief as he spotted Tony's physician heading towards them, followed by her lead nurse on duty – Nadia.

Gibbs was already standing on the side of Tony's bed across from the bulk of the monitors, but not too far back so that his agent would still be able to see him even if it was just in his peripheral vision for now. He knew the doctor would need some room to check him out but this was as far as he was going so he hoped it wasn't going to be an issue. Looking down to check on Tony he cringed at the sight he was now greeted with. Eyes that were squeezed tightly shut and lines of pain and beads of sweat that peppered his face and brow - breaths that were coming too few and far between as if he was holding his breath in an attempt not to aggravate the excruciating pain that would be caused by the expansion of his ribcage.

"How long has he been awake?" Dr. Archer asked him before she had even made it to the bedside.

"A few minutes – but he seems to be in an abnormal amount of pain Doc so I'd appreciate it if you would take care of that sooner rather than later!." His words came out much more gruff than he had intended but seeing Tony suffering like that simply made him angry. It seemed his attraction to the exotically beautiful doctor wasn't enough to surpass his worry and fear for his long time Senior Agent's well being.

She didn't seem the least bit fazed by his rough demeanor and without even wasting time acknowledging Gibbs' demand - she was already calling out instructions to her nurse, "Nadia, increase his epidural drip, I want fentanyl increased to 30 milliliters and increase the bupivacaine to 2 millegrams."

Then while her nurse got started doing as she was told, Dr. Archer began to check readings on all of the monitors while she briefly inspected all of tubes that went from the IV drip bags and monitors, to where they disappeared into various parts of Tony's body. She then checked to make sure all of the leads that were stuck onto Tony's chest were still intact to monitor his heart and lungs. After that she leaned forward a little further and started to check out her patient's body.

Gibbs watched as the doctor started to place her stethoscope in her ears so that she could listen to his lungs and abdomen and a slight movement below him on the bed caught his attention. Looking down Gibbs noticed that Tony's only usable hand was grasping the bed sheets so tightly that his knuckles were white, Gibbs carefully reached down with his own good hand and after pulling DiNozzo's fingers from the sheets he squeezing his hand lightly just to let him know he was there and also give him something better to hold onto rather than cold impersonal sheets.

He instantly regretted the rarely shared gesture as he felt unspeakable pain from the unbelievable strength that his weak agent still managed to possess. His knees nearly buckled from the pain that he too was now feeling - although still at a much lower level of pain than his agent was in.

"Be careful there Agent Gibbs." the doctor teased after hearing the muffled grunt of pain escape the team leader's lips, "I don't want to have to give you more pain medication too!" She smiled him sweetly and then just as quickly turned her attention back to Tony.

"Agent DiNozzo your pain should be starting to lessen now, do you think you can open your eyes for me?"

She was leaning down closer to Tony's face and waiting so she could check his pupils. Tony slowly opened his eyes as it was taking all of his effort to do so. Gibbs breathed in relief as he felt Tony loosen his painful grip at least enough for the blood to flow freely to his fingers again. He couldn't have been happier to see those green eyes again, but he didn't miss how glossy and slightly unfocused they still seemed to be.

"Has your level of pain gone down to a more tolerable level yet Tony? Just nod your head if it has." She was happy to see him groggily nod in response. "Very good, now you should continue to feel even less pain over the next few minutes and I am going to put a small device on the bed near your right hand, there is a button on it that I need you to press if you are still feeling pain after the next few minutes. It's imperative that we keep you out of pain so your body can heal. Pain causes the muscles in the body to tense and the blood pressure to rise and that's going to cause more blood to rush to your wounds and incision than we would like." Tony gave her another short nod to let her know he understood.

"Agent DiNozzo." She continued after first making sure she had full eye to eye contact with him so she could be sure he was listening. "I'm Doctor Archer and I will be managing your care while you are visiting our fine establishment." she teased, knowing how much most people disliked hospital stays – but _not_ knowing that this patient's dislike was even more intense than the average person.

"You are going to be fine Agent DiNozzo. I just need to check you out more thoroughly now that you are awake - and to do that I will be asking you some questions. Since the breathing tube in your throat will prevent you from speaking you will have to answer me by blinking your eyes. One for yes and two for no – okay? Do you understand?"

One blink.

"She then spent the next ten minutes asking him basic questions and informing him of his injuries. While doing so she was checking out his incision site looking for signs of infection, she listened to his lungs and most of his vitals and then using her stethoscope once again, she listened to his abdomen near the surgical incision.

She told him what had been done during his surgery and that so far he was healing nicely and she anticipated a full recovery. Gibbs was feeling more relieved and less tense the more he watched how well Tony responded to the Doctor and his surroundings, but he had to roll his eyes in amusement as soon as he saw Tony reach up with his very shaky good hand and give the tube protruding from his mouth a weak tap, whilst managing to give his best puppy dog look to the doctor in spite of his drugged and weakened condition. Gibbs chuckled internally thinking that Tony certainly didn't waste any time asking for the hated tube to be removed. Gibbs never ceased to be amazed with the pure talent Tony possessed in the way he could 'sweet talk' someone in getting what he wanted, even without the luxury of being able to actually _**talk**_!

Dr. Archer knew that the gesture was his way of asking when it could be removed and his 'pleading little boy' eyes did not go unnoticed yet she couldn't allow it to affect her professional decision. But since she was pleased with how he was responding and healing she just smiled her most glowing smile while she answered him, but deciding to play with him a little first in return for him trying to coerce her by using his charm on her - adorable as it may have been.

"What? You don't like having a tube stuck in your throat and not being able to talk?" she asked jokingly. But then seeing the scowl she got from him in return made her realize he didn't find her comment very amusing.

"Okay, okay I'll keep my day job. Seems people don't find me as amusing as I seem to think I am. The answer is yes. I think it's safe to remove it now. Your lungs will have to work a little harder for a while but we will keep you on oxygen which will help assist in your breathing. However – I will remove it only under **one **condition - and that is, you must try not to talk too much at first and over exert yourself! Are we clear on that?"

Tony was determined to agree to whatever was necessary to get the pretty physician to take him off the vent once and for all. He had hated it when he had the plague – and he hated it even more now.

He answered her in the form of one very dramatic, wide eyed blink.

Gibbs was now grinning full out and actually had to stifle an all out chuckle as he thought about the fact that - _only DiNozzo _could make the simple act of blinking somehow come across as - LOUD.

"DiNozzo."

Upon hearing his name Tony turned his head to the left having forgotten that Gibbs was even in the room. Gibbs finally felt it was okay for him to speak since the doctor seemed to be finished checking Tony out and making sure he was properly medicated.

"If you don't do exactly what the doctor tells you to do – or not do – you'll be answering to me!" but his words didn't pack their usual demanding punch and Tony wasn't fooled since he could see the hint of a smile shining from within his bosses' eyes, reflecting the genuine care and relief he felt for his senior agent.

*Blink*

Gibbs was please to see Tony was so much more alert and aware of his surroundings. He smiled at his second in command after seeing Tony agree to his orders.

Dr. Archer asked Gibbs to stay where he was so he could assist with removal of the ventilation tube. He would only be helping by having a glass of water ready to help sooth Tony's throat immediately following the removal. The nurse had all of the necessary items laid out that the Doctor would need and also made sure she was ready so that once the tube was removed she could move in and slip on a nasal cannula that was connected to the oxygen tank.

The doctor had instructed Tony on what to do, his only role was to cough when she told him too and to try and relax as much as possible and within just minutes the dreaded tube was out and as Tony weakly sipped cool water through a straw while being assisted by his boss, he watched as the contraption was placed on a cart and wheeled out of the room to hopefully never be seen again – followed quietly by his doctor and the nurse after promised they would be in to check on him again later.

"Okay Tony that's probably enough." Gibbs said as he forced the cup away from his agent and set it on the bedside table, after easing Tony's head and shoulders all the way back down onto the pillows.

"Trust me, you need to take it easy on the water right now, I've been in your shoes before and too much too soon after surgery and vent removal, will only make you nauseas as hell!"

But his words fell to deaf ears as he realized Tony's eyes had closed and stayed that way. He remembered how exhausted he had been after his own vent was removed when he was badly injured in the explosion on the ship, so he was happy to see that Tony had listened to his body for once and allowed himself to sleep. After staring at him for a while, just being thankful that he was out of the woods, Gibbs pulled up his chair and allowed himself a small catnap as well.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**A/N - Next one will be longer and there will be more excitement coming from Tel Aviv! I promise to go back and correct any missed errors later tonight! Pls review!**_


	25. Gibbs The Protector

**Chapter 25: Gibbs The Protector**

_**A/N – O**__kay as always I'm sorry for long delay between updates. I finally lost my job that I hated anyway so even with no job I am happier! But then I got sick for 10 days w a cold virus that kicked my a** like I've never had a cold do in over 10 years. This chapter I struggled with, rewriting it, changing it, having to re-do entire sections because I got it mixed up with one of my other NCIS fics. So I hope you like the final outcome and pls just send me a PM if you catch a major error – rather than telling me in a review. I like to leave reviews for story content reviews only (good or bad) – not grammar or error notifications.__** But on that note - THANK YOU – I love you all for your awesome and consistent reviews. This is a super long chapter to make up for your having to wait so long.**_

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

_"Okay Tony that's probably enough." Gibbs said as he forced the cup away from his agent and set it on the bedside table, after easing Tony's head and shoulders all the way back down onto the pillows._

_"You need to take it easy on the water right now, I've been in your shoes before DiNozzo and too much so soon after vent removal, will only make you nauseous as hell!"_

_But his words fell to deaf ears as he realized Tony's eyes had closed and stayed that way. He remembered how exhausted he had been after his own vent was removed when he was badly injured in the explosion on the ship, so he was happy to see that Tony had listened to his body for once and allowed himself to sleep. After staring at him for a while, just being thankful that he was out of the woods, Gibbs pulled up his chair and allowed himself a small catnap as well._

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

**The Long Flight Home**

**Chapter XXV**

_**ICU Waiting Room, Baltimore Hospital . . . **_

The somewhat exhausted group in the waiting room consisting of Tim, Ducky and Abby and Ziva, continued to make progress while they waited to see their friend again as they put together what evidence they had so far on the case of the sabotaged plane. They also enlisted the help of Tony's former partner Daniel and Ziva's own former partner Amit and their work progressed much faster once they knew that that Gibbs and Tony were both okay - with Tony improving more with every update they were given.

They had just about finished putting together the approximate time line of the events starting from the very first command Director David gave to Amit Hadar ordering him to have the maintenance crew to install charges on the large US Military cargo plane, to the near disastrous ending on the Annapolis runway.

Amit and Ziva were critical in helping McGee determine what transpired at the airfield shortly before the plane took off – since McGee wasn't there he would most likely never have been able to fill in some of those missing pieces on his own, so their assistance was invaluable to the case. Although when they first started trying to work together after they first received word that Tony was going to make it, things got off to a rather rocky start due to McGee's ambivalence to accept that Hadar was on the right side – their side.

McGee's skepticism increased when he heard that the now AWOL Mossad officer had actually been the one who carried out the first part of the Director's devious plan by ordering the shady mechanics to plant the explosive devices on various parts of the plane, Upon hearing that part of Amit's story, Tim had stood up rather dramatically from his chair considering his personality was usually much more passive than aggressive, he was immediately ready to decline Hadar's help - and maybe even tell him off while he was at it for nearly taking his best friend and the only Brother figure he had – away from him, away from all of them.

But it was Amit whom had surprised him along with everyone else when he stood up as well and after calmly listening as Tim vocalized some of his anger and doubts, Amit took it all on the chin, he understood what the young agent in front of him was feeling and knew that he would feel the same way if the roles were reversed and McGee had played a significant part in the near death of Ziva or any of his own former partners/friends.

Ducky, Abby, Ziva and Daniel all waited patiently for the two men to resolve the issue and hopefully in short order so they could move on and focus on what they really needed to focus on – somehow getting a step ahead of Eli and Mossad so that no one else was hurt or killed and they could end this nightmare once and for all.

Finally Tim sat back down after Amit politely asked for the chance to explain, assuring McGee that there was more to the story that would hopefully shed more light on why he did what he did by following that last event altering order before defiantly pushing back and standing up to his Director and boss.

Hadar's explanation began with him confessing that he knew now just how wrong he had been when he followed through on delivering Eli's orders and that it had gone against his better judgment.

"Look, I know that I don't have the right to ask for your forgiveness - what I did is inexcusable and I know that. But at the time that was business as usual for Mossad, that was not an unusual request . . . or rather, order from Director David by any means. But at the time I had my own family to worry about and unfortunately, though I was genuinely fond of Agent Gibbs, DiNozzo and Director Vance, they were _not_ my family and I owed them nothing. At the time my choice was clear – do as I was told or suffer the consequences . . . and anyone who knew Director Eli David -" he paused looking towards Ziva as if suddenly remembering she was there. Ziva nodded in silent reply letting him know that it was okay for him to continue.

". . . Anyone who knew him, knew that it was not an idle threat. David knew that the best way to keep his officers in line was to threaten to bring harm to their closest family members should they disobey him. I fooled myself into believing that no one would get hurt by the charges, I fooled myself into believing that the Director really did only intend to _startle_ the small group aboard the flight as a warning – rather than bringing the plane down. But none of us had anyway of being able to foresee that mechanic murdering the co-pilot just to steal his identity and hence his place on that flight!"

He then explained to them that it had been almost immediately after he had relayed the order to the mechanics that he realized he was done – he no longer wanted to play a part in the Director's personal games or secret agenda's anymore. Then he paused, reflecting back to the moment when he first made his decision to get out, but these thoughts stayed inside his head as he did not want to say them out loud and put Ziva through anymore painful heartache by being forced to listen to just what a monster her Father had become. But at the time, Amit had also finally realized that the longer he stayed working directly under Eli, the more he risked becoming more and more like the evil man and certainly didn't want to see his relationship with his own daughters end up turning into something as cold and detached as Eli had eventually become towards Ziva.

By the time Hadar had finished with his run down of his part in the dangerous plan - good and bad, McGee, Ducky, Abby and even Daniel found themselves starting to empathize with the Israeli Officer sensing that for him, any harm that were to come to his family would have been the end of his own life even if he remained physically alive. They all stayed quiet while Amit finished his story – he explained that after his run in with Ziva at Mossad headquarters where he filled her in on his fears of what the Director might do to harm his family and warned her about the orders he was forced to fulfill in regard to messing with the cargo plane. Once she had recovered from her initial anger with him, delivering a few well placed punches in the process, she then calmed down and eventually helped him get his family safely out of Tel-Aviv to an undisclosed location where they would be safe and staying with the family of an old retired Mossad operative until things blew over. The elder ex-operative had acted as a mentor to both Ziva and Amit at various points of their careers, he was a person they both trusted wholeheartedly to protect the Hadar family so that they could do what they had to do and try to stop a possible catastrophe.

They then put Amit's initial involvement behind them and started to get back to work. They reviewed the data that McGee had acquired when he had hacked into the computer network of the Tel-Aviv Air Control Tower, this helped them confirm how long the plane had been left alone in the hangar, what time the plane had taken off and what maintenance had been done during that time, and by whom. The group then compiled that information with the information that Ziva and Amit had supplied from what happened in Tel-Aviv from the initial tampering of the plane, to take off. Then taking the time line that McGee, Abby and Ducky provided them as far as what happened on the plane from after takeoff, to the luckily safe landing in Annapolis. This combined data helped gave them an all inclusive time line of the plane and events from beginning to end.

They still had to get the plane's flight data recorder, or black box as it was more commonly known as, but the FTSB had not released that to them yet. So for now all they had in regard to what actually happened on the plane during the flight, was what Ducky provided based on his conversations with Gibbs and Vance on the satellite phone. Finally after two hours had passed they decided to divide and conquer.

Abby left to head to the hospital's large lab so that she could document her findings and started analyzing what evidence they had from the plane. She was beside herself when she walked through the doors into one of the most well equipped labs she had ever had the privilege to work in, since it doubled as a training laboratory for a nearby University, it was equipped with just about the best tools and most modern machines that money could buy and that any scientist would kill to have access to. Daniel had been sent along with her to assist as needed after offering to get her any additional testing equipment or supplies she may need – from the Baltimore PD's own crime lab. He knew that the hospital lab wouldn't have some of the things that a crime lab would carry.

Ducky headed down to the basement level of the hospital after they finally received the corpse of the mechanic whom had posed as the co-pilot so he could now do what he did best. He immediately got prepped to begin the autopsy of the body and the painstaking process of gathering any and all trace evidence on the killer's clothing and body, knowing there wasn't so much as a speck that could be overlooked and they could not afford any mistakes. He owed it to Tony to be as thorough as he could to ensure that anyone and everyone responsible for causing their Senior Agent's injuries and health to deteriorate so rapidly, knowing that even though some of his injuries were already worsening before the flight even took off, were definitely made worse by the jarring explosions that took place during the long and dangerous flight.

_**Back In Tony's Room . . .**_

One hour and forty minutes had passed since Gibbs himself had fallen asleep, he had easily fallen into a semi-deep slumber now that he had the relief in knowing that since Tony had stabilized enough to be taken off the ventilator and was well on his way to a full recovery. But he wasn't sleeping as deeply as he appeared to the outside viewer because as long as that crazy sonofabitch Ari was still out there somewhere – threatening and taunting them, Gibbs' main priority was to protect his team and especially Tony - whom was the most vulnerable and unable to protect himself at the moment.

No matter how relieved, exhausted or injured Gibbs was himself – he had no intention of allowing himself the luxury of sleeping too deeply since he still had to remain aware of what was going on around him - no - matter - what.

If anyone could accomplish a feat like that it was Gibbs - although no one on his team could figure out how he was able to do it – Gibbs had two different kinds of training that enabled him the ability to sleep while still being aware of his surrounds. One was his Marine training of course. But another reason was his training as a Father. From the time Kelly was born Gibbs and Shannon both slept light enough to never miss the slightest sound coming from their Daughter's room – even something as mild as a quiet whimper made during a bad dream.

But Gibbs had yet a third reason for making sure he watched his unconscious agent's six, while it was a duty he took very seriously in general - no matter who's six he was sidled with – it was even more serious when it was _Tony's _six that he was watching. But his determination to protect Tony at all costs was not for the reason everyone suspected. It wasn't unlike the way he was always aware of Kelly's wellbeing at all times – his relationship with Tony definitely had a Father/Son type of quality making him just as aware of his well being as he was of Kelly's.

Secretly Gibbs could add one more reason for his need to watch over Tony more so than anyone else – this reason was something he never shared with anyone, not Ducky. . . not Tony - no one.

No one knew about the guilt that Gibbs had been carrying with him ever since Tony nearly died from the plague. While Gibbs was responsible for getting his team focused enough find & stop the person responsible for sending the lethal powder that nearly killed Tony, he felt tremendous guilt over not stopping his senior agent from opening the unaddressed letter in the first place. He should have known better than to allow anyone to open an envelope like that, one that was not addressed to any agent or any NCIS employee in particular.

Gibbs had felt something stir deep within his gut at the time, while half-ass listening to McGee describing the suspicious and ominous envelope out loud. He should have stopped Tim from allowing Tony to grab the letter - taking ownership of it based merely on the SWAK imprint over the seal. He lost many nights of sleep due to this burden of guilt - who had Tony's six then?

How could he have failed his loyal Saint Bernard whom risked life and limb to protect his bosses' six many times at the risk of his own life and well being. Gibbs vowed to himself from the plague incident on, that when Tony's six was in need of protection – no one would get to him unless they took Gibbs out first!

Seeing Tony on the ventilator earlier just like when he was fighting to survive the plague, it caused him to think back on that time even more – and only intensifying his feelings of guilt. So there he sat, hanging on somewhere between being full wakefulness and deep sleep until he heard a slight noise as Tony started stirring and the barely noticeable sound of rustled sheets was all it took to cause him to wake up all the way and nearly shoot out of his chair while grabbing for the missing gun on his hip at the same time out of sheer reflex.

Looking immediately towards Tony's bed he spotted his agent attempting to move or sit up again like he had tried before. Thankfully his attempt was made more difficult by having his broken arm strapped to his chest to keep it immobile after re-injuring the limb during the rough flight straining the ligaments and tendons around the break, even worse.

By the time Gibbs was out of his chair and over to Tony's side, he got there just in time to catch his semi-conscious agent, whose eyes were still closed before he groggily found a way to pull himself up to a seated position. Thankfully for Gibbs, having only one usable arm that was sporting an IV needle, combined with his semi-conscious condition and drugs still in his system, Tony's attempt was so sluggish and weak that his attempt to grab the offending tube had been a near miss.

Gibbs reacted quickly by pressing and holding Tony's good shoulder down – but gently so as not to startle his agent. "Tony, take it easy, don't try to get up because trust me, it won't feel good!" Gibbs spoke in a quiet soothing tone of voice. He himself let out a deep breath when it seemed that Tony had settled back down and wasn't going to try to sit up much less move around very much. Gibbs knew that Tony would have had to have felt pain in his gut and arm just from the slight amount of movement he had already managed to make – but just in case, Gibbs kept a light but firm hold on his shoulder just in case while he silently hoped Tony would open his eyes and awaken the rest of the way.

One thing he couldn't help but notice was how bony Tony's shoulder felt obviously from not eating much since his initial fight with Rivkin. Gibbs could have kicked himself for again not noticing that factor well before now. How could he not notice that his best agent was in more pain than he had been letting on – not only at the emergency room where Gibbs first spoke to him – but even the following day when his pain and soreness would have been even worse.

Why did he take Tony for his word at the Hospital when usually he knew better and would double check with the physician who treated him! He could only assume it was his concern for Ziva as well since she had also been through a traumatic experience. If only he had known then what he knew now regarding Ziva's horrid treatment of Tony and the flat out lies she had told all of them when she kept what she did know about Rivkin – to herself.

Gibbs focus was brought back to Tony's face as he felt the shoulder underneath his hand starting to squirm again. Tony started rolling his head slowly side to side while keeping his eyes tightly closed, but his movements were still slow and sluggish as if he was trying to shake off his drugged weariness and fatigue in order to fully wake up.

Then to Gibbs relief , Tony's head quickly came back to rest dead center causing Gibbs to lean in a little further, watching closely as Tony's eyes first scrunched together tightly but then relaxed into a few fast blinks as he worked his way out of the fog of slumber towards becoming fully awake.

As sick and groggy as he felt, Tony still didn't miss the deep lines of worry that were etched all over his bosses' face when he first opened his eyes and saw his boss staring down at him, so Tony forced himself to smile as best he could while being in pain and starting to feel very nauseous, but it was worth the effort when he watched the tense lines of worry and concern that had all but taken over his bosses' features, disappeared in an instant upon seeing him smile.

Gibbs was more in tune with his second in command than he was to anyone, he smiled back at Tony but he wasn't fooled for a second. He knew that the smile was Tony's instinctive reaction whenever he thought he was responsible for causing someone else pain or worry, the fact that the sarcastic agent never attempted his usual methods of distraction such as; making some wisecrack or movie reference to shift the focus off of himself, that fact alone made it even more obvious to Gibbs that Tony had to be feeling pretty awful.

"Welcome back a-gain DiNozzo. Stay still while I page for a nurse." Tony let his eyes close again just to rest them for a minute while he could sense his boss reaching over him for the call button located on the wall. There was usually also some remote device that could server that same purpose but at the moment Tony couldn't care less where that was.

Within minutes nurse Anna entered and quickly went to stand next to Tony's bed on the opposite side of Agent Gibbs and immediately started to check on their good looking patient. Seeing his eyes closed again she turned towards Gibbs with some questions.

"How long ago did he wake up Agent Gibbs and how did he seem?"

"About 5 to 10 minutes ago, but I could tell he wasn't feeling well – whether it was pain or nausea – or both – is hard to say."

Before she could thank him or do anything else, a groan of misery came from the patient whose eyes were now open once again but squinting in pain just as they were the last time he had awoken in recovery. Gibbs patience was wearing thin as were his nerves, most likely due to being so fatigued himself and managing his own throbbing stab wound.

"Look! You can clearly see he is suffering again!" Gibbs ranted while pointing towards Tony's face, directing her attention to the scrunched lines around his agent's eyes and tiny beads of sweat on his forehead and upper lip from the tremendous strain the discomfort was obviously causing him.

"Now - can't _**you **_do something for him or does he have to wait for the damn doctor? Who knows how long it could take for her to get here!"

Tony cringed at the raised sound of his bosses' voice. _'Uh-oh, gruff Gibbs is back.'_ he thought to himself, closing his eyes again as if trying to escape the wrath but also to avoid seeing the look of fear that the young nurse most likely had on her face, he wished he could come to her defense by cracking a joke which was his habitual technique to help diffuse a stressful situation.

But he knew if he even attempted to open his mouth, his nausea would get the better of him and they would all be sorry. On the flip side he had to admit that it warmed his heart to hear how protective his boss had sounded! He knew how it was rare for Gibbs to be so obvious with his concern.

The now nervous nurse replied in a small and shaky voice, " Uhm yes sir. Well, he is probably still feeling nauseas from the remnants of anesthesia still in his system – it's natural for the body to try and repel or reject the foreign substance. I will get some Compazine, it works fast." And for the pain, I – I can increase his morphine now that he's more awake this time – but since opiates tend to depress the respiratory system when used in higher dosages – I'm afraid he will have to endure a little of the pain until the rest of the anesthesia is completely out of system and then we can give him something stronger."

Gibbs softened his entire demeanor, "Thank you."

"Sure, of course." she relaxed as well and smiled back at him.

Tony looked up at her, his eyes now starting to water from the pain and the sick feeling rising further up his throat from his stomach. His mouth was starting to water if he might throw up even without speaking. The nurse had seen that look before and knew she's better get moving or they'd have a new emergency on their hands if he started to throw up.

Tony nodded in reply to the eager nurse – then closed his eyes as the wave of nausea continued to wash over him – he had to focus all his energy on not puking, wishing she would just hurry and give him that drug she mentioned. He then tried to lick his dry chapped lips but didn't have enough moisture to get the job done, he felt like he had the worst case of cotton mouth as even his worst hangover had ever caused.

Suddenly Gibbs saw the nurse move faster than she had all day as she grabbed a small odd shaped container and rushed to get it near Tony's mouth. She made fast work of raising the bed slightly and removing his nasal cannula just in time for Tony to lose his battle with the nausea throwing up nothing but watery bile since it had been at least a couple of days since he had eaten any solid food.

The nurse got rid of the container and came back with a moist towlette that she used to wipe down Tony's mouth and face. Then she turned and grabbed a syringe and some medication from a nearby wheeled stand against one of the walls. Once she prepared the medication she quickly administered the Compazine directly into one of Tony's IV ports and reached up and changed the drip level on one of the other bags of medication.

She explained that she had given him the Compazine that would rid him of his nausea almost instantly and that she had also slightly increased the level of morphine being given to him. She also explained that the morphine was attached to a pump which would deliver the strong pain medication through a small tube that the surgeons had inserted via a small secondary incision located near his main surgical site.

The morphine tube could be easily removed about 7 to 10 days following the surgery. Now that he was awake she told Gibbs that they could give Tony a hand held control for the morphine pump so if he were in need of an additional small dose of the morphine in between the frequent checkups from the nurses, he could do it himself. But the device would only allowed the patient a predetermined amount of the drug every 30 minutes so as not to allow him to accidentally overdose himself.

Then she looked back down at Tony, patted his leg lightly, "Hang in there for just a few more minutes Agent DiNozzo, this stuff works pretty fast and you should be feeling much better!"

Tony still had his eyes closed as he waited for his stomach to settle when he felt something slide across his lips causing his eyes to shoot open!

"Oh - sorry I startled you Agent DiNozzo, I was just applying some Vaseline to your lips – it will help with the dryness since oxygen masks, ventilator's and meds can cause some wicked chapped lips!" she smiled brightly down at him and he had an urge to tell her he loved her solely based on how much better his lips felt from what she had just done.

Anna left just minutes later promising someone would bring the ice chips and that Dr. Archer should be in shortly as well. Then just as promised only minutes after she left, a nurse they hadn't seen before came in with two cups of ice chips and naturally started to approach the patient to feed him some soothing spoonfuls when the silver haired man standing near the bed reached out to take one of the cups out of her hand.

"Here, I'm sure you have enough to do - I can give it to him." He said as he took one of the cups from her hand. She smiled and gratefully handed him the cup of ice chips and turned to place the 2nd one on the nearby tray table before thanking him and leaving the room.

Since Tony had his eyes closed temporarily as he waited for the pain and nausea to taper off, he was shocked by what he thought he just heard. _'Did Gibbs just volunteer to feed me something?' _Opening his eyes he confirmed that he had indeed heard correctly as he saw Gibbs hand coming at him with a spoonful of ice chips.

_'Oh great,' _Tony thought_, 'Just what I need, my boss having to feed me like a 2 year old! _

But being almost too shocked to do anything else, Tony opened his mouth, accepting the cool chips, closing his eyes yet again while relishing in the moisture they provided his dry mouth! When he opened his eyes again he saw another spoonful coming at him. He completely avoided making any eye contact whatsoever with his boss. This was just too abnormal and awkward to say the least.

It only took a few minutes before he heard Gibbs say that was probably enough for now. "Don't want'cha gettin' sick again DiNozzo." He had explained.

"K Gibbs, thanksss." Tony slurred slightly.

Tony hadn't thought about it before but he really had no choice but to let his boss feed him the ice. What with having one arm strapped to his chest and the other arm having to lay flat or have the IV monitors sound off. He had no choice but to accept help from Gibbs.

Finally feeling satisfied having ingested enough ice chips to sooth him for the time being, his eyes slipped closed again for a second

Only 5 minutes went by and Dr. Archer entered the room. Gibbs didn't miss how she always seemed to exude a positive energy whenever she entered. After thanking her best nurse who quickly brought her up to speed on how the patient was doing so far, Dr. Archer dismissed nurse Anna and then turned to look at the portable electronic medical chart where she could see the latest updates on Tony's monitor readings and vital signs. The hospital had gone green a while back, doing away with the old paper medical charts in lieu of more modern technology.

Moving over to stand by the bed in the same where Anna previously stood she looked at Gibbs and then down to Tony.

"Okay gentlemen, let's see how things are looking. Agent DiNozzo, I'm Dr. Archer in case you don't remember me from earlier. You definitely seem much calmer and more alert than last time I saw you, how are you feeling?" she asked Tony as she flashed him her soothing smile.

"M thir-ssty." Tony replied, his mouth even more dry after getting sick to his stomach.

"Yes, unfortunately that is one worst side effects of anesthesia but people can't immediately tolerate actual water until the anesthesia has completely dissipated. But I'll send someone in with some ice chips for you right away - then once we see how you handle the ice chips then we can look at letting you graduate to water and then perhaps even some nice chicken broth."

Tony licked his dry lips at the mention of all of the thirst quenching fluids, all of the things she mentioned sounded like the best things he'd ever heard of.

"Th-anks."

"Of course! Now you need to promise me that you will press this call button . . ." She said as she found the remote call button and placed it hear his semi-free hand. ". . .if you feel your nausea or pain levels rising again before the next scheduled rounds. It's important that you don't try to be the tough guy on this – you let someone know right away if you start feeling poorly – at any time day or night okay?" This time his only response was to nod silently until he felt a light tap on his forehead, opening his eyes in surprise he saw Gibbs looking at him with a fierce glare.

"And DiNozzo, if you don't do exactly what she just told you to do, it'll be _**ME**_ that you answer to – and don't think you can _fool_ me either, I think you already know better than to assume that you can!"

"'I – I Gotcha boss." Tony weakly replied.

She proceeded to check the drainage and chest tubes, his IV's, medication levels, forced him to open his eyes so she could check them with her penlight, then listened to his chest through her stethoscope looking for signs of any clots or blockage and checking his lungs and airway.

Happy with the results thus far she then took a look at the light dressing that has been taped over the small wound at the back of his head. No infection seemed present which was excellent. But unfortunately that wasn't the case when she lowered the blanket and peeled back the thick packing over his sutured surgical incision. That area was definitely more red and inflamed that she would have liked, she also couldn't help but notice how much worse the bruised area on his ribcage was since it was not far from the incision. Satisfied for now, she put his surgical packing's back in place and briefly but carefully checked to make sure his strapped shoulder and arm were not too tight, while at the same time – not too loose to where he could move it and cause himself more damage, not to mention pain. Tying his gown back together loosely in front she pulled the covers back up knowing that he needed to be kept warm.

"Well I'm very pleased at what I see Agent DiNozzo, you are healing quite nicely considering all that you have been through and how many different injuries you endured. After finishing a very quick exam she promised to be back in to check on both of them in a half an hour or so, knowing that she needed to also take a peek at the stab wound on the lead agent's arm and secretly hoping to get to know the man a little more at the same time!

By this time Tony's eyes had slid closed again, obviously it wasn't just the drugs pulling him under but also the challenge of remaining awake for the longest period of time since he slid into consciousness on the plane after stabbing the killer co-pilot.

The doctor spoke to Gibbs without looking up from her exam, "Agent Gibbs, can you shed some light on some of this additional bruising? I know we already noticed it when he was brought into Trauma One but now that some time has passed I can tell that some of these injuries are obviously 2-3 days old – that time frame is well before the flight that caused the newer injuries – they are obviously healing at the different rate than the fresh injuries he obtained from the flight." she lowered her voice a little trying not to disturb her still sleeping patient.

"Wow observant. Okay, well – you're right." Gibbs responded just as quietly. "He was involved in a violent fight while apprehending a suspect a couple a days before the hijacked flight. You've already seen the damage from that fight – the bruising on his upper torso, ribs that were cracked during the fight but broken after an attack by his former partner in Tel-Aviv,his arm was broken in the fight but definitely worsened during the flight.

It was easy for the doctor to pick it up from there, "Okay so I can assume that the freshest wounds such as to the back of his head and the ruptured spleen were all a result of the problems you had aboard the plane – which also caused his previous injuries to become worse as well – do I have it right?" she asked, finally looking towards Gibbs.

"Yes, I'm impressed – ya know if this doctor thing doesn't work out, you just might make a good detective." he teased, finally loosening up a little.

"Uhm – I hate to interrupt but - I _**am**_ right ya know." Tony had grown tired of being left out of a conversation about damage that he sustained to his own body! He finally decided to add his two cents while glaring back and forth at the duo. Then with both eyes closed again he added, "If it's all the same to you, I'd really rather we don't talk about _**any **_of it right now. Listenin' to you two, ya make me sound like I'm some kind of brawling gang member fer cryin' out loud." the doctor looked towards Gibbs and chuckled while Tony's eyes slid shut as if exhausted by merely speaking. Yet while keeping his eyes closed he added one final comment.

"Can ya you just finish this exam already doc so I can sleep?"

Gibbs nodded to the doctor that it was okay to continue, she knew he would fill her in more later in the hallway once Tony had gone back to sleep.

Clearing her throat the kind doctor finally replied, "Okay point taken Agent DiNozzo. Bear with more for just a few more minutes. I need to take one more look at your stomach. There was some slight redness that wasn't related to your incision that I just want to take another quick look at." she explained while sliding his blankets back down and exposing his torso once again. "Now, you're going to feel a little pressure applied to your abdomen while I check to make sure that we didn't miss any other internal bleeding." Tony's eyes shot open with that last comment.

"Missany? Weren't you just inside there a while ago? Shouldn't you have checked that while you were in there? Ne-evver miind – jus' getitover with." he gave in, closing his eyes. He was really exhausted at this point and feeling crankier by the minute, at this point he just wanted everyone to leave him alone. She ignored his pissy mood since it was understandable and even expected under these circumstance. Anesthesia was also known to mess with people's moods for a number of days following surgery of any kind. She proceeded to press down on the only area of his abdomen that was not inflamed, just barely outside of the area that _was_ affected by redness. She needed to make sure there wasn't some kind of staph infection starting to set in. "Is this area tender at all Agent DiNozzo?"

"Nope. Not really" Tony relaxed. _'Heck this ain't so bad_!' he thought to himself.

"Okay, what about here?" she asked just before pressing somewhat gently on the oddly inflamed area that was on the opposite side from where his spleen had been removed but not close enough to his bruised and broken ribs to be caused by those injuries either. It was already turning an angrier shade of red than before. She took special care to make sure she avoided bumping any of the spectacular bruises that also adorned parts of his body. She needed to try to determine if any of his current injuries might be the source of the infection - or if it was something completely unrelated.

"OWW! What the -!" he griped through clenched teeth while his heart monitor started beeping faster from a surge in his blood pressure provoked by the pain.

He closed his eyes, breathing through the pain. The yell caused Gibbs move even closer tto monitor the situation. When he got closer he saw Tony's eye's screwed shut tightly while a light sheen of sweat started to break out all over his face and neck again. But then Tony opened his eyes after the newly agitated pain had subsided a little and looked up at his doctor. Gibbs didn't miss how tired his voice sounded when he spoke again – it wasn't anywhere near the usual decibel's that Tony typically reached when he was angry – and healthy.

"There! Ya see? . . . _**that's **_why . . . I - _**hate **__-_hospitals! . . ." he complained after he let out the deep breath he had sucked in when she first pressed into the painful area on the side of his abdomen. His energy was almost entirely depleted now, made more obvious by the way his speech was slowing down more and more. You doctors are all alike, I swear you take pleasure in the 'poking n prodding' part! _**Pleeease - **_at least … call me T-Tony if yer gonna continue . . . t' torture me like that."

Gibbs gut twisted when he spotted the look of concern that briefly flashed over the doctor's features. But he planned to wait and talk to her in the hallway rather than risk alarming Tony.

"Okay . . . Tony – I'll cut you some slack. You go ahead and get some rest and I'll make sure no one comes in to check on you again for a couple of hours unless any of your monitor alarms go off for any reason. " She collected her things and glanced towards Gibbs, nodding her head towards to door to let him know she would be waiting in the hall to speak with him. Once she was gone Gibbs heard Tony's voice and looked back down at him. His eyes were still closed as if he had no energy to even hold them half way open.

"You stayin' boss?" he had no way of seeing the gesture from the doctor asking Gibbs to step outside.

Patting Tony's leg since he figured his upper body had been through enough Gibbs reassured him. "Yeah Tony, nowhere else I need to be. I got your six so just go to sleep already." then he felt a wave of emotion come over him as he watched a goofy, most likely drug fueled smile appear on his agent's face. Gibbs decided to wait until his underling had fallen asleep again before stepping out for a minute. He knew it would only take seconds before he succumbed to a pain free drug induced slumber which would allow Gibbs a few minutes to step out and finish his conversation with the stunning physician and perhaps do a little detective work of his own to find out if she was seeing anyone.

_**To Be Continued . . . **_

_**No cliffie really – well okay except for what's causing the unusual inflammation. Stay tuned! Pls review.**_


	26. Uninvited Guests Join The Party

_**A/N - **Okay someone HAS to write a fan fic about when Tony first started to become afraid of needles during his hospital stay (per this week's "Defiance" epi). It must have started after he began to recover at the end of the epi. They probably wanted to run all kinds of tests to not only see what other damage the plague may have caused, but also to figure out how he survived something that would have killed the avg person. DON'T WORRY – I promise I will not start writing any new stories no matter how much I want to – until I wrap some of these suckers up! hahaha - f__or now we'll have to settle for the latest chapter of this story._

_**Warning: **Don't be caught off guard by the first half of this chapter since it will seem almost like a whole new story at first. Sorry it's a lot of information (took forever to write) but I assure you it will all make sense and will have a significant impact on where the story is heading, bringing new excitement and danger with it. I believe if you are going to write a story you have to supply some info in order to get readers to see the full picture. BTW the entire first part with the 2 new characters (the loading dock set up, their fake jobs, etc) is also not based on fact so no need to call me out on anything. Hee thanks. __**~ Enjoy ~**_

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

_She (the doctor) collected her things and glanced towards Gibbs, nodding her head towards to door to let him know she would be waiting in the hall to speak with him. Once she was gone Gibbs heard Tony's voice and looked back down at him. His eyes were still closed as if he had no energy to even hold them half way open._

_"You stayin' boss?" he had no way of seeing the gesture from the doctor asking Gibbs to step outside._

_Patting Tony's leg since he figured his upper body had been through enough Gibbs reassured him. "Yeah Tony, no where else I need to be. I got your six so just go to sleep already." then he felt a wave of emotion come over him as he watched a goofy, most likely drug fueled smile appear on his agent's face. Gibbs decided to wait until his underling had fallen asleep again before stepping out for a minute. He knew it would only take seconds before he succumbed to a pain free drug induced slumber._

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

**The Long Flight Home**

**Chapter XXVI**

_**Baltimore Hospital ~ Rear Delivery Entrance . . .**_

Two unknown figures entered into the hospital through the rear entrance that was used for large deliveries of food, supplies, furniture and other things of that nature. They had pulled up in a delivery truck that had the name of a fake business on the side, "Med-Stat Medical Equipment". It was a professional paint job making it all too clear that the two men inside the truck were associated with some very powerful people with some serious connections.

The plan going in was for the driver of the truck to immediately create a distraction by provoking an argument with one or more of the hospital dock workers. These men were permanently stationed at the rear entrance solely to assist with the loading and unloading of trucks to keep things moving along. Then the second delivery man would take advantage of the distraction and make his own move.

The name the driver was going by was Rafael Sirota but only for the sake of this mission. His partner's alias was and they were provided everything necessary to provide a deep cover including fake background and green card information, colleges attended, past employment and anything else that might be needed should they be caught by authorities or if anyone simply grew suspicious of the duo and decide to try run a background check or check for criminal records – of which of course neither of them had, at least under their fake identities.

Rafael's partner was Jared Tedesco, or "JT" as Rafael had already started calling him since they knew that many American's seemed to like using nicknames like that and they thought it would make their covers even more realistic as well as non-threatening. The two men had been partners before and worked well together, they always looked out for each other to make sure they both made it through their joint missions alive.

Getting down to business Rafael wasted no time creating instant hostility by rudely demanding that someone help unload their truck stating they had orders to make their delivery to this hospital no later than 8:30 in the morning which was less than ten minutes from the current time and adding that they had other deliveries to make which just angered the dock workers even further. While the day shift dock manager tried to explain - nicely at first, that all deliveries HAD to be arranged in advance per hospital policy and that no exceptions would be made – his words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Rafael simply took it up a notch and start arguing in Arabic. He knew that the foreign language would manage to further confuse, irritate and distract the foreman and his nearby workers even further.

Not far from the loading dock in a nearby, tiny office littered with files, clipboards, invoices, calendars and *PO's – there was robust man sitting amidst the mess. Hal was the loading dock Operations Manager and had been for over 26 years, it was his job to schedule and coordinate all incoming, and even some outgoing deliveries which he did with efficiency and ease. Hearing the loud altercation coming from the loading dock he gave his foreman he rose from his chair and headed out, determined to find the source of the yelling and resolve the issue before things got out of hand and deliveries became backed up, or worse yet – someone got hurt.

He'd be damned if they were going to put him behind schedule for the day! No way - not on _his _watch! As Hal approached the bickering men he had been so focused on putting an end to the disagreement that he didn't even notice a second man dressed in the same light blue coveralls that Rafael was wearing, who had snuck right past all of the commotion and had made a bee line for the stairwell.

Once JT was inside the secluded safety of the stairwell landing he paused briefly and pulled off the fake business name logo that had been affixed to the upper left portion of his chest with a thin strip of Velcro. He then reached underneath the plain lack baseball cap he was wearing and pulled out another similar label quickly exchanging it for the old one and pulling his hat back down tightly.

Moving quickly he pressed the new label in place firmly onto the same strip of Velcro and turning his coveralls into a whole new uniform instantly promoting him to; "Bio-Medical Safety Inspector".

The plan was quite brilliant he had to admit - he would now be able to gain access to pretty much anywhere in the hospital but most importantly into any hospital storage room that housed medical supplies such as hypodermic needles, certain medications, refrigerated bags of plasma and saline solution for IV's, and much more – under the guise that he was there to assess the hospital and make sure they were taking all of the mandatory precautions for proper storage of supplies that held expiration dates as well as following required disposal methods when it came to rotating supply and following mandatory bio-hazard waste procedures.

It wasn't as if he would have as much as a clue how to actually tell if they were or they weren't – but it would get him where he needed to be to not only keep his eyes and ears on the prowl for the whereabouts of Ms. Ziva David, but also to gather information about one specific NCIS Special Agent – Mr. Anthony DiNozzo. For now his orders were only to observe and report using a hidden wire he was wearing that allowed him to be monitored by other Mossad operatives whom were stationed in an unmarked SUV parked near the hospital with dark tinted windows so no one could see the men and elaborate equipment inside. Those med would then transfer the information to his boss – the one and only Director Elijah Josef David

_*PO = Purchase Order_

_**Meanwhile In The Waiting Room . . .**_

"Hey Daniel, I was able to talk one of the nurses into letting us use one of their conference rooms. It has everything we need since they use it for meetings with the hospital board meetings. There's a plasma TV that doubles as a computer screen – plus a phone and one of those triangular conference bridge phones so we can keep the Director and anyone else that needs to be apprised of what's happening and how this case is coming. I could use your expertise in Tony's absence if you don't mind." McGee politely asked Tony's former partner for help but didn't tell him that he was also doing it to help both of them keep their minds off of worrying about their friend.

"Hell yeah, thanks McGee I appreciate your letting me assist. Nice job on nabbing that conference room, you must have made quite an impression on that nurse." Daniel teased, winking at McGee in gest. "Maybe your name should be McFlirt! hahaha!" laughing out loud at his own wit.

McGee cringed visibly at the man's attempt to give him a nickname. Damn no wonder he and Tony were such good partners and friends – they are one and the same! This was going to be a long day he thought grimly – wondering if Daniel would now start messing with his name as often as Tony always did!

_**Outside The Hospital . . .**_

While Rafael had wrapped up his argument and eventually drove away in the fake delivery truck, smiling after having successfully helped his partner enter the hospital unchecked. It couldn't have gone better and now since they avoided the main entrances where the hospital had security measures and hidden detectors in place to catch and prevent anyone from entering with a weapon of any kind.

They hadn't been given a lot of information for this sudden mission but he had heard that the Mossad Director had initiated the whole thing almost the very second he realized his Daughter Ziva was missing again – only this time he knew it was of her own volition which only angered the the director even more

He disposed of the truck temporarily blocks from the hospital and then walked to where the SUV was parked so he could now go help monitor his partner. The Mossad organization was better equipped for surveillance than the FBI, CIA or NCIS combined – and also when it came to creating everything necessary for an operative to go into a deep undercover operation. From uniforms to false identities to any necessary clearance that might be needed, everything was in place.

But these men weren't the only ones sent to America – or more specifically to Baltimore for this mission. They were just part of the multifaceted operation planned by the betrayed director. But for now they were all just on reserve and would only be needed if this initial plan went South for any reason.

_**Tony's Room ~ ICU . . . **_

Both Gibbs and Tony had been able to enjoy nearly two hours of uninterrupted and healing sleep, both men beyond worn out from everything they had been through in the past few days. Gibbs slept better than usual now that he knew Tony was on the mend and should make a full recovery, even if the doctor's suspicions that a possible staph infection had been brewing in his agent's gut proved to be true, Gibbs knew that any sleep that Tony was able to get would help him rebuild his strength enough to keep fighting off anything that came up and threatened his heath.

As if on cue the door to the now slightly darkened room because of the vertical blinds being closed and the lights still off. Gibbs looked down at his watch It was 10:15 A.M. so he wasn't surprised to see the nurse since the physician had ordered that Tony's vitals to be checked at regular 2 hour intervals and it had been about that long since the last time someone came in.

Gibbs sat up straighter in his chair while he shook off the groggy remnants of his more than restful nap. The first thing he noticed was that Tony hadn't budged, he still laid in the exact same position he had fallen asleep in although he really didn't have a lot of options to change positions due to his injured ribs and sutured abdomen. The morphine and other drugs had definitely pulled him under and clearly planned on keeping him there for a while. The second thing Gibbs noticed was another IV type bag of fluid that the nurse had brought in on her small rolling cart and looked to be about to add it to the one that was already flowing into Tony's arm and still over three quarters full.

"Why are you replacing his IV when it not even half gone." Gibbs questioned, watching as the nurse just continued her duties without missing a beat.

"Oh I'm not replacing it Agent Gibbs, I'm just going to piggy back this one on the regular IV he's already getting. We received new orders from Dr. Archer to add this during our next round of checking in on Agent DiNozzo so that is what I am doing." she stopped what she was doing for a second to look his way.

Gibbs eyes narrowed as he gave her his infamous heart stopping glare and just as it worked so well during interrogations – sometimes getting the criminal to confess everything without Gibbs uttering a single word. The nurse nervously found herself over-explaining even though she hadn't checked to see if he was on the patient's list of family members or friends with whom the medical staff had approval to share that kind of detailed patient information with.

"Look it's simply a secondary and more potent antibiotic because the doctor suspects a slight staph infection may be building and doesn't want to take any chances. Those things can be nasty to get rid of if they take hold – let me tell you!" She blurted out the details or the order speaking faster than normal. What was wrong with her? She knew better than that!

Gibbs didn't know what to make of the nurse's words. One one hand he felt relief that the doctor was so observant as to have detected the possible infection and was taking action, but on the other hand what did that mean for Tony? How far gone was the infection and how would that affect – or lengthen - his recovery? He hadn't realized he was staring right through the young woman and must have had a look on his face that betrayed his concerns because she softened and then smiled before speaking again.

"I'm sorry Agent Gibbs but that's all I can tell you. In fact, **more** than I should have told you. Look -.I get orders - I follow them. I'm sure you can relate." she had heard he was a former Marine, or as he would probably say, there are no _former_ Marines – only Marines. She winked at him in jest before looking away to resume her task. She hoped she had taken his mind off of his worry for a moment. It was clear to her that these two agents had a special bond not unlike Father and Son.

Gibbs relaxed a little knowing that the doctor would fill him in later and if it was really serious she would have come in herself. Dr. Archer who was currently catching a half hour nap on the doctor's lounge couch wasn't worried. She knew that the potent antibiotics she instructed her nurses to add, would be more than enough to keep the staph she suspected from getting a foothold and that it wouldn't present any new major problems for the already battered agent.

After the nurse finished checking all of the machines, tubes, drains, bandages and took note of Tony's newest vital signs, she made her exit moving onto the next patient's room she had on her duty roster.

Gibbs sat in silence listening to the soothing sounds of Tony's even breathing and the steady, strong rhythm of his heart beat as it played out from one of the nearby monitors. He found himself staring at each mesmerizing drip coming from the newest bag of antibiotic fluids as drop by tiny drop fell effortlessly from the bag and flowed smoothly and silently down through the clear plastic tubing which delivered the medicinal droplets directly into Tony's arm. It was hard to believe that such a miniscule amount of liquid held so much power. The power of killing even the strongest of bacterias and even in some cases keeping some people from dying.

The constant and barely detectable drip drip drip had an almost hypnotic affect on the still tired and sore lead agent and before he knew it he had fallen back to sleep again, grateful for the guard now posted outside Tony's door and thankful that his team was handling the case for now both of which gave him the peace of mind he needed to let himself drift off. He knew he would be better able to guide his team to put an end to this nightmare once and for all after he recharged his batteries.

It could have been the fatigue or just that his mind was clouded with worry over Tony, but whatever the reason – not even the unusually accurate "Gibbs' Gut" had been able to detect that that something was amiss with the newly added IV that now flowed freely into Tony's veins.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**A/N ~**_ _I know, sorry I really can't seem to help myself. But I had always intended on taking the story in this direction. Did you really think Ziva's Daddy was going to just let bygones be bygones after Tony killed on of his officers (Rivkin), seemed to be jealous and in love with Ziva, humiliated Eli in front of Vance while being interrogated at Mossad HQ and now had a lot to do with hi Daughter leaving again – possibly for good._

_Sorry for any missed type-o's or errors. I will proof again later today as always and correct as needed._

**_Previews For Next Chapter: _**_Tony will suffer from the effects of the tainted IV but not in the way that you would expect. The latest attempt to bring harm to the team (not only Tony will be affected by the Mossad operatives in town) will bring Gibbs claws out with a renewed vengeance but suddenly unsure of his gut for the first time in his life he now doesn't know if he can trust Ziva & Amit since everyone can't help but wonder if they are involved in the latest developments. _

_**~ Please Review ~ Thank you for all of the great reviews thus far! I am humbled by your comments. :-)**_


	27. Side Effects

_**A/N - **I was going to update other stories next but I couldn't stop thinking about what I wanted to write for this story. SO lucky for you (I hope) I decided to add just one more chapter for this one before moving on to the others. I hope this will get you excited about where this story is heading. But please review and let me know if you like it or (yikes) not. **:-) ~Enjoy~ **_

_**~ Enjoy ~**_

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

_**. . . Gibbs sitting next to Tony's bed watching the fluid of his IV as tiny droplets fell down, flowing into Tony's arm through the IV catheter . . .**_

_The constant and barely detectable drip - drip - drip had an almost hypnotic affect on the still tired and sore lead agent and before he knew it he had fallen back to sleep again, grateful for the guard now posted outside Tony's door and thankful that his team was handling the case for now both of which gave him the peace of mind he needed to let himself drift off. He knew he would be better able to guide his team to put an end to this nightmare once and for all after he recharged his batteries._

_It could have been the fatigue or just that his mind was clouded with worry over Tony, but whatever the reason – not even the unusually accurate "Gibbs' Gut" had been able to detect that that something was amiss with the newly added IV that now flowed freely into Tony's veins._

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

**The Long Flight Home**

**Chapter XXVII**

It had only been about 15 minutes or so since the nurse had finished adding the newly ordered IV of stronger bacteria killing antibiotics to Tony's main IV and Gibbs had was fallen into the deep stages of the REM cycle as he dozed next to Tony's sleeping form - having quickly succumbed to his own exhaustion again.

He knew he would be better able to focus on the case now that he had not only allowed himself some much needed sleep, but also had the peace of mind that came from knowing his senior agent had made it through the most precarious stages of his recovery. He trained his team to handle things in his absence and now it was time to see how they fared when their Senior Agent wasn't around to lead them either.

He could also not ignore the various warnings that his own body was sending him, pushing him towards rest and recuperation from his own wounds. Thanks to years of having endured similar injures along with numerous lectures from Ducky – he learned that by delaying his own body's efforts to rest and heal, it would ultimately backfire and end up extending his overall recovery even further.

As he entered into REM he fell right into a dream. One that started out pleasant enough with he and his Dad working side by side in his Father's hardware store. They seemed to be getting along better than usual which made Gibbs unknowingly relax deeper into the chair where he was seated. He turned around so he was now facing away from the main entrance of the store and went to work stocking a new box of stainless steel encased measuring tapes, placing them one by one on the biggest display shelf located behind the counter when suddenly an unexpected noise caught his attention. It was coming from behind him on the other side of the counter, near the entrance, and it sounded like someone moaning loudly in terrible pain which caused the usually stoic Gibbs to nearly seize up in fear – worried that it that his Father had somehow injured himself or worse yet - was having a heart attack or stroke!

Spinning around searching for the source of the disturbing sound Gibbs eyes quickly scanned the store until he found what he was looking for. His eyes landed on the main entrance of the store where the sound had originated and what he saw caused his eyes to grow wide with shock and awe. It wasn't a customer or his Father as he had anticipated – it was Tony! He didn't appear to be bleeding anywhere but it was obvious that his senior field agent was in a tremendous amount of pain – judging not only by his loud moans but also by his body language as his eyes were screwed shut in agony and he was starting to double over. Gibbs had started to move around the end of the counter to get to him when something caused him to wake up before he could help his second in command. Disoriented from having awoken during such a critical part of his dream as well as such a deep stage of sleep – it took him a moment to realize that he was still hearing the moans of pain, moans that still seemed to be coming from Tony!

As he forced himself to a fully awakened state the first thing he did was to sit up in his chair and immediately look at Tony. His mind had to be playing tricks on him he thought as he noticed Tony writhing in pain and trying to curl up into himself holding his stomach. Gibbs acted fast quickly shaking off the remnants of his interrupted nap and pressing the call button while yelling out for someone to get in there!

"Tony what is it? Where are you hurting?" He lightly pressed on Tony's shoulder trying to get him to open his eyes and answer – but when Tony did finally open his eyes and look up at him Gibbs heart wrenched once again as he recognized the look on Tony's face. It was almost identical to a similar look his Daughter Kelly used to give him when she had woken up after her worst nightmares – nightmares that for her usually involved something terrible happening to her Dad while he was out fighting a war, doing his job as a Marine. It was a look of sheer terror.

"My ss-stomach!" was all Tony could utter. He felt like the lining of his stomach was literally on fire and also lined with glass though he knew neither of those scenarios could really be happening. The pain was bad enough to where it actually took his breath away making any further talking near impossible.

It didn't take Gibbs long to start to think of what may have changed since he first fell asleep that would have taken Tony from seemingly feeling better and sleeping peacefully, to the rocking fetal position and agonizing moans of pain that he was now experiencing.

The IV! Acting quickly Gibbs reached down, pressing his fingers down directly on top of the tape that covered the needle where it entered Tony's arm as he then slid the needle out with ease while continuing to place pressure where the needle had been inserted to still any bleeding, at least until the medical staff could arrive. The discarded IV now swung slowly from it's post, fluid dripping onto the floor now unchecked. Gibbs struggled to keep a hold on the needle mark as Tony continued rocking back and forth trying to breath through the pain.

"That's it Tony! Keep breathing slowly and evenly. It will only be worse if you tense up." Gibbs spoke in a soothing tone as he encouraged Tony to keep doing what he was already doing. "You're doing good Tony – just hang in there someone will be in here any second!"

"WHERE THE HELL IS THAT DOCTOR? GET SOMEONE IN HERE NOW!" Gibbs turned and shouted towards the door. The guard quickly slid the glass door open slightly and poked his head in to answer Gibbs call. "Their coming Agent Gibbs sir. I see the nurses coming down the hall now, I think they paged a doctor first." then before Gibbs could respond the guard stepped aside as two nurses, one male, one female, ran past him into the room. "What happened?" the male nurse asked first. "No alarms went off alerting us to any change in his monitors until seconds before you pressed the call button!" he explained.

"I don't know! Whatever it was – it happened pretty fast! Just help him dammit! Can't you see how much pain he is in?" Gibbs voice rose to a new level as he lost what was left of his patience.

"What is his IV out? Did he accidentally pull it out?" the female nurse asked while running to the side of the bed opposite Gibbs and trying to get Tony to lay back so she could check his abdomen. It was clear that was where his new pain was stemming simply from the way he was holding it. As strong as she thought she was though, there was no way she could pull Tony's arms away from their tight hold on his own stomach.

"**I** pulled it out. Someone's already tried to kill myself and my agent and I find it a pretty big coincidence that he received a new IV right before he started writhing in pain! And I **don't** - believe - in **coincidences!**" he barked. The male nurse looked down to see Gibbs placing pressure on the spot where the needle had previously been inserted, moving quickly he grabbed a small piece of guaze and some tape and after taking over the pressure so that Gibbs could drop his hand, the man placed the protective materials firmly over the tiny and insignificant wound.

Then the doctor arrived in the room before anyone could reply. It was a different doctor since he was the one on call at the moment. The female nurse quickly explained that there may have been foul play and that an IV may have been tainted. The doctor glanced down at the discarded IV and ordered the male nurse to remove it and set it aside to be tested later. He knew that if what they said was true, that he would be better able to treat the patient once they knew what he had been given.

He then grabbed a syringe from a nearby tray the nurses had brought with them. It was filled with an additional, high power narcotic pain medication that would provide the agent who was obviously in considerable pain, with enough relief so they could at least inspect his stomach and rule out any other causes for the sudden setback. He had read the man's file fully before starting his on call shift so he was aware of the injuries and surgeries that the agent had endured.

Just moments after the medication had been injected into Tony's bicep his body slowly started to relax and his face eventually became more lax as well and he finally rolled back so he was now laying flat on his back and not sideways curled up like he was before. Gibbs released a breath he hadn't realized he had even been holding. He had already moved out of the way so the physician could inject Tony with the medication so he was no positioned at the lower part of the bed where Tony's legs were. He reached out and grabbed onto one of Tony's legs right below his knee hoping to at least let Tony know that he was still there and not going anywhere.

"Tony you're gonna be fine. Don't worry, I still have your back and I **will** find out what caused this attack – you can count on it!" Gibbs tried to sooth Tony and ease his mind once again and spoke to him in a quiet, calm tone of voice hoping to make Tony feel safe and relaxed enough to sleep again. At least until they could figure out what happened. But looking up to Tony's face his gut clenched once again as he noticed Tony looking back at him with a blank and unreadable expression on his face. It was as if he either didn't recognize Gibbs, or was looking right through him. Finally Gibbs forced himself to shake it off, assuming it was simply the highly potent drugs that now surged through his veins making him foggy and groggy as it settled in and started working.

The doctor assured him that he found no evidence that Tony had suffered any other setbacks as far as the surgical site, internal bleeding or any of the other injuries he had sustained. The physician left shortly after reassuring Gibbs that the hospital lab would analyze the suspected IV thoroughly and put a priority rush on the results. Gibbs of course made sure that a sample of the IV was also immediately given to Abby Sciuto in the waiting room explaining that she was the best forensic scientist at NCIS. The doctor easily complied.

"Oh - and I want to know who that nurse was! The one who brought the damn thing in here in the first place? Was that even really ordered by Doctor Archer like she told me it was?" Gibbs added, causing the on call doc to walk back over to review the previous updates to Tony's chart.

"Yes, this is definitely Abriana's initials right here next to the initial order." he showed Gibbs the chart where Dr. Archer had hand written her orders for her staff's last scheduled rounds. The doctor read the instructions out loud;

"**Additional antibiotic medications to be added as soon as possible**. The nurse may not have known something was done to that IV. But I can promise you – I will check on that personally!" and with that he made his exit.

The remaining nurse left a few minutes later after informing Gibbs that a new IV would be put in place and that she would show him the unbroken seal of the new IV back before she did anything else.

Gibbs was now free to turn his attention back to Tony. Moving back up to stand near the head of the bed he looked down and saw that Tony's eyes were closed. He assumed he was already knocked out by the drugs until suddenly Tony's eyes flew open and he immediately flinched, jerking away from Gibbs as if he were going to be attacked by his own boss. Something still wasn't right Gibbs quickly realized. Tony looked at him in fear as if he didn't recognize him at all. It was similar to the look he had given him earlier but now it was even more pronounced.

"Tony relax. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you." then seeing nothing close to relaxation or remembrance he asked the question he had been afraid to ask, "Do you know who I am Tony?"

His heart sank when Tony shook his head slightly, answering "No. Who are you 'n why - are - you staring at me - like I'm s'm kinda - freak?" Tony spoke slowly, the drugs making it impossible for him to speak any faster.

"Uh-oh. Look I don't want to alarm you Tony but I;m your boss and your friend and I have been for over 8 years. Something was given to you by some very bad people that apparently causes temporary memory loss. Listen, as difficult as it may be - for now I just need you to trust that I have your back and that I will protect you."

"Oh – I ss-see. Like y-youu protected me – fr'm thhat – baaad IV?" Tony asked, obviously getting drowsier by the second and struggling more and more to keep his eyes from closing.

Gibbs felt almost sick to his stomach as Tony's words hit him like a punch in the gut. He was right. Gibbs had failed to protect him then so he couldn't blame the guy for not trusting him a second time. He damn well couldn't admit that he was sleeping at the time or that he had watched the nurse hang the very IV that put Tony in this state in the first place.

"Ya know? You are right to say that. I failed you Tony and I don't usually say this so I hope you remember it but . . . I'm sorry."

Tony felt something stirring deep in his heart, there was definitely something familiar about this man he just couldn't quite put any concrete memories together that would tell him why he felt that way. He also got the feeling that apologies were extremely difficult for the man – his alleged boss – to admit to. He felt a glimmer of compassion for this Gibbs person that he couldn't explain. Something told him he could trust him and at this point he felt he had no choice. There didn't seem to be anyone else stepping up to help him at the moment.

Gibbs watched the variety of expressions that flashed over Tony's face one right after another. He wasn't positive but he felt that Tony may very well have believed what he had just told him, that he could trust him to keep him safe. Sure he had definitely fumbled the ball on that last attempt to bring harm to his agent – but he sure as hell wasn't about to make that a habit! If anything he would watch over Tony even more closely than before. Nothing that would hurt his agent would ever get by him again even if Gibbs had to put his own life on the line to prove it!

Before Tony could speak again he was caught up in a sudden bout of severe nausea that seemed to come out of nowhere. He had felt so much better after receiving the injection that he had almost forgotten how awful he felt just moments before. Gibbs noticed the newest change in Tony's face and eyes instantly and once again he knew that look all too well! Once he saw the beads of sweat that were breaking out on Tony's brow and upper lip he knew he had to act fast! Looking frantically around the room he spotted an empty water pitcher that hadn't been refilled yet, grabbing it quickly he ran back over to Tony reaching carefully behind the back of Tony's shoulders and helping ease his upper body forward just in time.

Tony immediately started throwing up into the lidless pitcher, it was nothing more than bile and other fluids but it was hard to know at this point if it was caused by whatever was in that suspected IV, or simply from the unusually strong doses of medication taking their toll on his body.

Gibbs jaw clenched tightly together as he listened to his very ill friend moaning loudly each time his stomach revolted against whatever was upsetting it so badly in the first place. Gibbs knew from his own past hospital experiences, the intense agony that throwing up would cause. Tony wanted to die just to escape the intense pain. The violent spasms that his body was during from puking only managed to put added and unspeakable pressure on his incision as well as his damaged ribs, inducing pain so intense that tears were sprouting at the corners of his tightly closed eyes as if he were squeezing them so hard, the tears had no choice but to escape.

Gibbs just held him tightly against his chest, rubbing his back lightly until he eventually began to dry heave, having nothing left to give since he hadn't eaten for over 24 hours other than intravenous nutrition. Gibbs let go of his for a second just to place the ruined pitcher on the ground out of the way. He stood back up and resumed his position holding Tony by the shoulders. Pulling a clean handkerchief from his pocket he wiped the seat from off Tony's face and then across his lips to clean him up a little and make him feel better. He could still feel the muscle spasms caused by pain that were pulsating in Tony' back and reverberating against Gibbs chest.

It broke his heart to see Tony suffering again after having been through so much already. All he could do for the time being though, was help him through the worst of it and hope it was nothing deadly that he had been given if something was proven to be in that IV.

"Ya okay now? Feel like you might be sick again?"

Tony didn't even have the strength to look up at him or to speak in answer to the question so he settled for just barely shaking his head back and forth letting the man, his boss, know he was done puking up his guts. At least for now.

"Okay, now I'm gonna just ease you back so you can rest. You **tell me** if I am hurting you!" Gibbs explained firmly. Tony sagged against him, feeling weaker than he had ever felt before. Like it or not he had to trust the man and do as he said because he was simply too exhausted not to.

Gibbs watched Tony's extremely pale face as he helped ease him back down against the pillows, putting his dislodged nasal cannula back in place. He could see Tony gritting his teeth the entire time he was laying him back down as the pain in his ribs, shoulder and surgical incision were still making their presence known thanks to the jerking movements involved in throwing up, that had taken quite a toll. He had finally gotten Tony comfortable once they newly awakened pain had subsided, he was relieved when Tony's eyes finally closed. His body was now able to relax since he seemed to have expelled whatever had been upsetting his stomach so badly allowing his body to finally give into the pull of the potent pain relieving drugs in his system. when he heard the telltale sound of the door to the ICU room as someone slid it open and someone entered. Turning to see who it was, Gibbs didn't think he had ever been as happy to see Ducky as he was right now!

"Oh thank goodness Duck! Someone got to him again dammit! Or at least I think so. Wait, were you already informed? Is that why you're here?"

"Yes as a matter of fact, the doctor on call sent someone down to the lab to hand deliver a sample of an IV to Abby. The young lad informed us that it came from Anthony's room and that it may have been tainted with something other than what it was supposed to contain. What on earth happened in here? Or rather - _**how**_ did something like this happen inside the hospital of all places?"

"Dammit Ducky, the hell if I know! I was just so darn tired I just fell asleep! But I thought Tony was safe with me in here with him plus a guard outside the damn door. I had no reason to be suspicious of the nurse for cryin' out loud - OR the IV! I should have know-"

"Now that will be quite enough Leroy Jethro Gibbs! Dare I say that if one of your agents tried to blame themselves for something they had no way of knowing or controlling – you would head slap them so hard they'd have to come see me for a check up. I'll not allow you to waste time berating yourself over this. There are too many other things that we must discuss."

Gibbs stayed silent through Ducky's short rant but he knew his wise older friend was right. It was rare for him to voice his opinion like that and with such force, but when it was something as serious as someone trying to kill any member of the team, he didn't hold back. Gibbs appreciated the fact that even though the M.E. was forceful and firm in his speech, he still made sure to keep his voice lowered so as not to disturb Tony.

"Awe Duck. I know you're right but try tellin' that to **him**!" Gibbs replied as he pointed, redirecting Ducky's eyes towards Tony. "**He's** the one who just finished puking his guts out causing him unimaginable pain and nearly ripping his sutures out in the process! All because I was arrogant enough to believe that no one would dare try getting at him in the hospital with me in his room and surrounded by security! Yet somehow they **did**!"

Ducky's concern for Tony's well being suddenly took precedence causing him to move quickly over to the side of Tony's bed opposite where Gibbs was now standing once again. After hearing what Gibbs had just told him about Tony throwing up Ducky felt the need to check his bandages to make sure there were no signs of ruptured or pulled sutures and then recheck the readings on his monitors to make sure the added dehydration that vomiting was known to cause, had no ill effect on his vital signs.

Gently pulling the edges of Tony's hospital gown closed again having thankfully found no sign of duress to his incision site, Ducky then placed his hand lightly on Tony's forehead checking for fever while Gibbs pulled the blankets back up towards his shoulders to make sure he stayed covered and warm.

"He seems to have recovered from the vomiting without any any further incident which is a relief to say the least. Have you noticed if he is experiencing any other undue side effects from the potentially tainted IV?"

"Yeah Duck, I have. He doesn't seem to remember me."

_**To Be Continued . . .  
**_

_**A/N – **Don't worry, any negative side effects Tony is experiencing from the IV will not be long lasting or fatal. Though they don't know it now, this latest 'attack' on Tony was merely another threat from Mossad. A threat meant only to serve as a warning to let Gibbs and team know that even though they are back in the States - if Mossad wants to get to any one of them – they will! **Review!**_


	28. Baltimore Memories

**Chapter 28: Baltimore Memories**

_**Extra Important Author's Note: **_Did anyone else notice the fact that Tony's partner in my story that I started well over a year ago, is named Danny too (Daniel, Dino, etc)? You know what Gibbs says about coincidences! I just love how we now have a face to go with the person that I made up! Hahaha what a crazy world. Instead of Daniel for the rest of the story I will start calling him Danny so it's more canon. Tony however will still call Daniel by the nickname he gave him as parnters – 'Dino'.

_**2nd Important Note: **_In my story Danny will NOT have been a cop gone bad and I thought it would be fun to explore their friendship more and give us more insight into Tony's engagement/marriage. I might as well also take a stab at what happened to Wendy and their relationship. Hope that's ok w/ all of you. None of it is spoilers since I don't know any spoilers. Haha – if I missed any type-o's I will fix shortly! _**~ Enjoy! ~**_

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_

_Gently pulling the edges of Tony's hospital gown closed again having thankfully found no sign of duress to his incision site, Ducky then placed his hand lightly on Tony's forehead checking for fever while Gibbs pulled the blankets back up towards his shoulders to make sure he stayed covered and warm. _

"_He seems to have recovered from the vomiting without any further incident which is a relief to say the least. Have you noticed if he is experiencing any other undue side effects from the potentially tainted IV?" _

"_Yeah Duck, I have. He doesn't seem to remember me."_

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

**The Long Flight Home**

_**Chapter XXVIII**_

_**Tony's Hospital Room – ICU . . .**_

"He doesn't know who I am Duck." Gibbs informed Ducky.

Ducky looked from Gibbs back down to Tony as his mind absorbed what his friend had just told him. Being that they were unsure at this point as to just what had been added to the younger Senior Agent's IV, Ducky found himself at a rare loss for words.

Gibbs could sense the Scottish man's unease and spoke up again. "Look Duck, I need to go check in with Abby and see if she has gotten anywhere on the contents of that IV, I also think it might be best if I'm not here the next time Tony wakes up because he's a little upset with me at the moment. Maybe with any luck he will remember you better."

"Very well, go talk to Abigail and I will keep an eye on our boy here. I gather he's upset with you for not preventing this latest attack?"

"Yeah, he sure is Ducky. He can't remember who I am but he sure is holding me accountable, that's Tony for ya." with that Gibbs made his way to the door but then stopped before leaving as Ducky beckoned him back.

"Jethro perhaps you should send Tony's former partner up here. It could be that only Tony's memory of recent events and people have been affected. Let's see if he remembers Dino any better."

Gibbs nodded as he left the room, sometimes his longtime friend surprised him with his insight.

_**Hospital Conference Room. . .**_

Gibbs had first gone into the waiting room to find Tony's partner Daniel only to be redirected to the nearby conference room where he had gone with McGee. Minutes later Gibbs was walking through the swinging door into the moderate size room causing both Daniel and McGee to swing their heads around in his direction.

"Boss. How's Tony holding up?" Tim wasted no time asking.

"He's been better McGee but at least he's out of danger for now - so to speak." Gibbs knew that until they apprehended the terrorist's responsible for his latest attack, or until the brought down the crooked leader of Mossad – whichever came first – that Tony would never be out of danger completely.

"But thanks to that bad IV he was given, we have a different problem to deal with."

"What is it boss?"

"Tony didn't recognize me when he came back around, which is why I'm here. I need to go check in with Abby and I thought I would test a theory I have." Gibbs paused but the other two men simply waited for further explanation.

"Daniel I'd like you to go sit with Tony for a while. I want to see if it's only his short term memory that's been affected. If he remembers you – it could help us determine if only his short term memory has been affected – but that his long term memory is still intact."

"Of course I will – anything to help! But please, just call me Danny." Daniel immediately responded. Then turning towards McGee he added, "All of you. I didn't mention it before because the timing seemed inappropriate but, well my Father went by Daniel and it's . . . we . . . well let's just say we weren't that close. It's bad enough I have to share his name with him at all to be honest. That's why Tony started calling me Dino since that didn't remind me of my Father at all. I called Tony 'Tino' sometimes for that same reason . . . anyway sorry – TMI right ?" he laughed, realizing that he had just shared more about himself than he needed to and possibly more than they cared to know.

"Wow, you and Tony _**do **_have a lot in common don't you? No wonder you were such close friends." Tim commented not realizing that Gibbs had been thinking the same thing.

"Do you want me to head up there now Agent Gibbs? Tim, will you be okay for a bit?"

Danny left immediately after he saw a nod from both Gibbs and Tim, he had been so worried about his former buddy and was eager to spend more time with him. As he walked down the long hallway to Tony's ICU cubicle, Danny found himself reminiscing about another time he had visited his partner in the hospital . . .

_**{Flashback} . . .**_

_Baltimore General Hospital - _

_Danny walked into Tony's hospital room for the 4th time in the past 2 day, arriving just in time to see a good looking nurse and Tony's attractive female doctor on one side of his partner's bed, and his fiancé' Wendy – equally stunning if not more so, standing on the other._

"_Geez Tino, I can't leave you alone for even 4 hours without you charming all the women on this floor into helping you! What is this some kind of group sponge bath? Should I step out?" he teased relentlessly. Everyone turned in Dino's direction, laughing at his absurd suggestions. One thing that he didn't find amusing was the lines of pain etched in his partner's face and around his eyes. Getting shot in the back was nothing to joke about._

"_Can it Dino. You really should show these lovely ladies some respect man, I do NOT need them on my bad side right now." Tony teased back with a slight drug induced slur marring every other word._

"_Ohhh Pa-leasse! Since when did you turn into such a gentleman? Looks like Wendy's got you trained pretty good already partner!" Dino winked at Wendy so she would know it was said in jest._

"_Anyway – what's the good word Doc? My partner gonna make it or do I need to start accepting applications?" Tony rolled his eyes at his partner's antics. He wouldn't admit it but he was happy to see him, it helped take his mind off his worry._

"_Well I'll tell you this - he's very lucky." the physician announced. Tony wasted no time jumping on that one. "What? Lucky? If I was lucky Doc I don't think I'd be laying here in a hospital bed with staples in my back, soaking up a blood transfusion, antibiotics, morphine and an IV!"_

"_Well you could have been paralyzed from the waist down if that bullet had landed just 4 inches to the left. But it didn't – and that my friend is __**lucky**__!" Dr. Justine Roberts explained. Her comment shut Tony up immediately._

"_As you all know we were able to remove the bullet and any fragments left behind, without complications. The bullet also missed all of his vital organs although it did nick his right kidney - and like I said before, also missed hitting his spinal cord. So far there's no sign of infection, his iron and red blood cell count is slowly improving and we should be able to wean him off the morphine and start treating his pain with some non-narcotic meds. He will require some intensive physical therapy to regain strength in the muscles of his lower back before he can be re-evaluated for return to desk duty and eventually field duty." she concluded, closing her patient's file folder she was looking at the entire time._

"_Yeah uh hey Justine – I am right here you know. You keep talking about me as if I'm not then I just might have to find a new doctor." Tony flashed her his glowing smile - and that alone charmed more women than one could even begin to track. Danny held back a chuckle, only Tony would be on a first name basis with his female doctor just one day after waking up from surgery and meeting her. He also noticed that none of it had even fazed Wendy._

"_Sorry about that Detective DiNozz - oh sorry . . . I mean Tony." She corrected herself. A few minutes later she left to continue with her rounds - the room quieted down a little since it was now just Tony, Wendy and Danny._

"_How's the case going Dino? Ya catch the bastard that shot me in the damn back?" Tony asked, going from joking to dead serious in a matter of seconds._

"_No, not yet buddy – but we are getting closer. We are following some solid leads and the crime team uncovered a lot of trace evidence in the street near where you went down. We also found the sniper's nest that lines up perfectly with the trajectory of where the bullet entered your low back. We'll get 'im DiNozzo – no one shoots a cop in the back and gets away with it!" Danny found his own blood pressure rising and realized that if his was then most likely his partner's had to be too, so he quickly changed the subject to something completely off topic._

"_So you two, what gives? You ever gonna set a date for this wedding I keep hearing about?" Danny inquired. Finally it was Wendy who spoke - "Actually we've been waiting for you to get here Danny. If Tony getting nearly killed doesn't motivate us to move up our wedding plans nothing will. I could have lost him before I even had a chance to become Mrs. Anthony DiNozzo. I'll let Tony tell you more about the details because he has a favor to ask you." She looked down at her exhausted fiancé and smiled, running her fingers through his hair to brush it back from his forehead just like he liked it._

_Danny could tell that Tony was fighting to stay awake but that it was taking a lot of effort due to the many drugs he was being given. Tony tried pulling himself up a little higher in the bed when his back muscles started to spasm in pain and stopped him in his tracks. Blinking fast in an effort to keep his eyes open he spoke up. "Yeah, so here is what we decided. As soon as I am up for it – we want to just fly to Las Vegas to get married - maybe even have some Elvis impersonator marry us. Neither one of us wants a big wedding and I'd just as soon my Father wasn't there for sure." he paused, letting his eyes close for a minute in an attempt to regroup. Danny waited patiently but had to admit he was surprised at the turn of events since originally they had wanted to at least have a small church wedding even if it was just a few people from the squad room, some of the teacher's Wendy' used to work with that had become friends, and then a few more of their very closest friends. Once he noticed Tony staring at him he turned his focus back to him._

"_Din- . . . Danny I uh . . . we – uh well what I'm tryin' t' say is, I'd like you to be my best man if you would. That is if you want to." Tony dropped his head back against the pillows frustrated with himself over how he had just stumbled through his request._

"_What? Are you kidding me? OF COURSE I will be your best man! It would be an absolute honor to stand up for you man! Just don't ask me to wear tube socks as part of the wedding attire or the deal's off!"_

"_Hahahaa-aaAHHH! Dammit!" tony started laughing, forgetting all about the staples and torn up muscles in his back. His laughter quickly turned into a holler of agony. After taking a few deep breaths he forced himself to focus again on the conversation. "Fine it's a deal! NO tube socks!"_

"_Great then you just got yerself a best man my friend!" Danny leaned forward grabbing Tony's IV free hand to shake it when Tony pulled him forward using only his arm strength, pulling his new best man into a man hug while Wendy stood back grinning from ear to ear. She couldn't remember ever being as happy as she was right now. Her man was alive, happy as she had seen him since he proposed – and their wedding plan was finally in motion!_

_. . . {End Flashback}_

Danny found himself standing outside Tony's cubicle, smiling at the memory fresh in his mind. Entering the room the first thing he noticed was that Tony looked worse than he had earlier, as well as in comparison to when he saw him after he was shot back in Baltimore. He thought Tony's face seemed more pale – so pale it was almost gray. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be completely out and resting easy so Danny crept up to stand next to the man they called 'Ducky" and let him know he had arrived.

"Hey Dr. Mallard, Gibbs sent me in here to see if Tony remembers me when he comes around again. How's he doing – really?"

"Please I insist that you call me Ducky. Everyone else does so it's only fitting that you do as well. Yes he's still much sicker from whatever they gave him in that additional IV but, his vitals are improving at a decent rate so I suspect he should awaken again in short order, I'd say 30 to 45 minutes if I were to venture a guess."

"Great thank you Dr- Ducky"

Ducky laughed quietly at the slip. "Dr. Ducky – hmmm has a nice sound to it doesn't it?" he teased. Danny grinned. He liked this man, in fact he liked all of the people Tony worked with. No wonder he left Baltimore PD he thought to himself.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**A/N - **__Sorry this one is shorter than usual but I was so excited to post my new Danny/Tony stuff to correlate with the episode "Baltimore" that I just wanted to get this posted! I promise I will post another update for this story after I update my "Consequences" and "Matter Of Life Or Death" fics! Please review as always, and hopefully some new people will review along with my regulars. :-) THANK YOU!_


	29. A Reunion Of Partners

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

_**Previously On The Long Flight Home:**_ _"Hey Dr. Mallard, Gibbs sent me in here to see if Tony remembers me when he comes around again. How's he doing – really?"_

_"Please I insist that you call me Ducky. Everyone else does so it's only fitting that you do as well. Yes he's still much sicker from whatever they gave him in that additional IV but, his vitals are improving at a decent rate so I suspect he should awaken again in short order, I'd say 30 to 45 minutes if I were to venture a guess."_

_"Great thank you Dr. - Ducky"_

_Ducky laughed quietly at the slip. "Dr. Ducky – hmmm has a nice sound to it doesn't it?" he teased. Danny grinned. He liked this man, in fact he liked all of the people Tony worked with. No wonder he left Baltimore PD he thought to himself._

_**~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~**_

**The Long Flight Home**

_**Chapter XXIX**_

_**Waiting Room – Gibbs talking to the team . . .**_

"Everyone listen up, I have already alerted security to the breach. Someone was able to sneak into this hospital and get to Tony and I wanna know HOW and WHO!"

McGee took initiative since he felt obligated to try and think like Tony since temporarily he was the acting Senior Field Agent. "I'll go check security monitors and speak with head of security about the lock down. I will also make sure they post two guards at Tony's room with strict instructions they are not to let anyone in without triple checking credentials."

"That's good McGee and while you are doing that see if they need us to call in any military assistance. It's a big hospital and I want everyone exiting and entering in the next 48 hours checked and re-checked thoroughly – no exceptions!"

"On it boss." McGee uttered hoping to calm his boss by uttering Tony's familiar saying.

"You think Mossa- . . . my Father . . . has something to do with it, am I right?" Ziva tentatively questioned.

"Hell yeah Da-veed – I do!" Gibbs put extra emphasis on Ziva's surname but didn't mince the rest of his words either, he knew in his gut who was 100% responsible!

"Let Ziva and I go and track down some of our own local informants to see what Intel we can gather." Hadar asked Gibbs.

He still wasn't sure of just how far he could trust Hadar and Ziva but he needed answers so he caved in. "Fine, but you only have 90 minutes - no more! I want to know everything you uncover the second you uncover it! Call the hospital from a land line or payphone and have me paged. We can't risk someone possibly tapping into our cell phones right now."

With that the Mossad duo departed quickly leaving Gibbs alone for the moment. He knew Ducky was probably on his way back from Tony's room so he would await his arrival so he could ask him what his autopsy on the plane hijacker uncovered. He knew Abby was still working hard in the lab so she would be his next stop to get an update from her as well. He wondered for a moment if the hospital cafeteria had Caf-Pow.

_**Meanwhile Across the Seas At Mossad Headquarters . . .**_

Eli David hung up the phone and turned to look out his massive window that gave him the most magnificent view of Tel-Aviv. An evil grin broke out on his face as he relished the update he was just given by Rafael – one of the agents he had strategically placed in Baltimore solely for the purpose of dealing with NCIS, or more specifically, Agent Anthony DiNozzo Jr.

"I hope you know how lucky you are Agent Gibbs – I could just as easily have ordered the precious second in command to be given a lethal dose of that substance. I _chose_ to merely cause him some agony and memory loss just as a warning to you." Eli muttered to no one, as if Gibbs could actually hear him. He knew that Gibbs was intuitive enough to have gotten Eli's warning loud and clear but what he couldn't be sure of – was what kind of retaliation or reaction his newest attack on Agent DiNozzo would provoke from the silver haired, Lead NCIS Agent – not to mention how it might affect his diplomatic relationship with NCIS Director Leon Vance. A relationship - that was hanging by a bare thread to say the least.

The longer Eli had to ponder how Tony had not only murdered Mossad operative Michael Rivkin, but he also made Eli look like a fool during his interrogation, and that second act made Eli's blood boil even more so than Rivkin's death had. In fact he struggled with the decision whether he should have DiNozzo killed and be rid of him forever – or whether it would be better to merely scare the agent's entire NCIS team so that they would be nervously waiting for the other shoe to drop. He had decided to prolong the agony until perhaps he himself could go the US and personally watch the arrogant agent take his last breath while Agent Gibbs was watching.

His thoughts immediately turned to his now rogue daughter and Hadar whom had been on his way to becoming the Assistant Director before he chose to apparently leave Tel-Aviv with Ziva. He had also sent some other operatives to the US but with a different type of mission. A mission to locate his only surviving daughter and Amit Hadar – they were under strict orders to report to him immediately upon finding any evidence that the two were near DC or even worse – if they had made contact with anyone at NCIS.

So far he had yet to receive any updates from them whatsoever and that was unacceptable. Briskly walking back over to his desk phone, he decided to take the proactive approach and demand an update from them ready or not. If the operatives he had already sent out hadn't found them yet - he just might have to punish the current operatives and send out some more qualified people to finish that task.

_**Tony's Hospital Room – ICU . . .**_

Ducky had made his exit leaving Danny alone with his former partner. Ducky didn't want anyone in the room with them since Tony didn't seem to remember anyone he had worked with in the past few years, so the only way to truly test his long term memory – it wasn't a good idea to have any of Tony's current friends in there to confuse him even further.

The test was to see if Danny triggered Tony's memory from that past time frame.

Danny had pulled up a chair near the head of Tony's bed, staring at his friend with intense worry. He had been through a lot in the past week according to what Timothy McGee had shared with him. He hoped that his old buddy would recognize him since they had a lot of catching up to do.

His thoughts were disrupted when he heard Tony starting to shift more and more in his bed – he was definitely coming around again. Danny slid forward so that he could lean in a little closer to his friend, waiting for his eyes to open and praying that his close proximity didn't scare Tony in anyway. Just as he was contemplating moving back a bit he found himself staring into the old familiar green eyes of his buddy but remembering Ducky's instructions not to say anything until he see if Tony remembers him on his own – he quickly refrained from yelling out his nick name for his friend – Tino.

Tony opened his eyes but still felt very groggy and now only slightly nauseated. Blinking a few times trying to clear his eyesight a little more he could swear he was looking right at his former partner . . . '_Danie- nooo that wasn't right . . . Dino! Yeah that was it!' _He noted that his buddy appeared to have aged a little bit then again who hadn't? The change was minimal though – sure he appeared to have put on a few extra pounds and added a few more "lines of character" on his face – but both factors still somehow managed to enhance his former partner's natural good looks.

'_Wait, what the hell is Dino doing here?'_ Tony pondered. _'Where was here anyway? Hospital?' _Tony's mind was spinning as he tried to recall what he was even in the hospital for. Unfortunately when he finally thought he remembered what happened, he thought it was the bullet to his back that he had endured by a perp they were trying to catch. But if that was the case, Tony pondered further, then why did Dino seem older and look a little different?

Danny watched as Tony just blinked and started at him, he could almost hear the wheels turning in his friend's mind as he fought to recall what had happened and why his former partner was here with him now. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to say something without giving too much away.

"Tino my man! Is that all you're gonna do? Just stare at me and blink? C'mon buddy since when are you quiet and speechless?".

A small grin started to appear on Tony's face as he heard the all too familiar voice. "Di-nno w-whhat th' hell?" Tony finally spoke even though his voice sounded much rougher than normal. "Whatthehell'rr you doin' herrre?"

Then before Danny could respond Tony added, " Buddy . . . ya look good but I have'ta ssay you look a little uh. . . older'n well-ll . . . a lit'l biggerr." Tony started to chuckle but then stopped himself as his ribs, surgical site and busted arm announced their intense dislike for the sudden movement.

"What? That's all you have t' say t' me man? That I look old and fat?" You aren't as young and skinny as you used to be either DiNozzo!" he teased – all but forgetting that he wasn't supposed to mention anything related to any time having passed. He quickly attempted to make up for the slip.

"Do you remember why you're in the hospital this time pal? I sure hope your remember cuz - _**I**_ ain't gonna tell ya."

Tony felt confused and dazed as he struggled to remember what happened. It couldn't be the shot to the back he had received because it was obvious that time had passed since that incident. He slowly remembered that he had left Baltimore PD and gone to work for . . . for . . . damn! Why couldn't he remember?

"Fine ya-a bass'trd - I uh . . . r-rr'member it'ss been too damn long since I've sseen ya partner – tha-at I know." Tony was unaware of how slurred his words still were. "If I recall correctly.` it wass _your_ fault we lost touch." Tony teased, enjoying falling right back into the sarcastic ribbing that he and his partner had down to a science back in the day.

"Oh so that's how its gonna be huh? Well good t' see you haven't changed that much! You still don't have your facts straight and you still try to shift the blame on me – just like old times!" Danny threw back a retort to his sorely missed friend.

"Seriously man, what the hell happened to land you here? I still work for the Baltimore PD as a Homicide Detective 1st Class so I got wind of you bein' brought in here."

Tony fought hard to recall the recent events but nothing was coming to the forefront of his mind.

"I . . . I – uh I dunno Danny. B-been wr-rackin' my brain tryin' ta remember-rr but . . . I got nothin'. Tell me what you know, maybe that will help jog my memory." Tony pleaded.

"Sorry pal, I'm under strict orders not to do that. They say they need you to remember organically - otherwise you might just pretend to remember or it could also be too traumatic for you to handle if you try to force your memories. Believe me, I wish I could. But they think you will remember everything in no time if that helps. Is there anything else I can do for you man? Water? More Drugs? Hot nurse? You name it!"

Tony let out a deep breath of air as he absorbed Daniel's words. _'Damn!' _he thought, couldn't they just tell him something? Just to get him started? Realizing he would get nowhere if he pressed the issue he decided to answer Dino's other questions.

"Well water sounds good I guess. Definitely no more drugs for a while – please." His words were becoming less slurred the longer he remained awake but Danny noticed that he was starting to look pretty tired and worn out already. Grabbing the nearby pitcher he poured a small amount into the matching cup and held the straw out to his friends' lips.

"Need me to raise the bed a little?"

"Nah, my body seems to protest any semi-upright position. Just be careful ya don't spill that on me!" Tony teased.

"Ye have little faith my friend!" Danny joked back as he held the straw to Tony's dry lips and allowed him just enough small sips to satisfy his thirst and dry mouth.

Soon Tony's eyes lost their battle against gravity as he fell asleep almost immediately after sipping the water. Danny sat back in the chair, moving it closer to keep tabs on his friend and said a silent prayer that his buddy would get his memory back soon but that it wouldn't cause him any added trauma.

_**To Be Continued . . .**_

_**A/N - Not as long as usual chapters but I am just trying to get updates out faster on all my fics so we can get back on track! Please review even though the story didn't move leaps and bounds ahead just yet! Haha thank you all!**_


End file.
